MS: You're watching ESPN First Take, presented by Direct TV.

MS: Two outs in the ninth and a ground ball to short, Velarde. He did
it. He did it. No hitter for Jim Abbott. Jim Abbott has just no hit the
Cleveland Indians. A magnificent moment at Yankee Stadium for Jim
Abbott.

FS: There have been so many incredible and historic moments at Yankee
Stadium and Jim Abbott's no hitter certainly ranks near the top of the
list. Believe it or not it was actually 15 years ago today that Abbott
pitched that no hitter against the Indians, an incredible and inspiring
accomplishments and Jim joins us now to look back at that moment in
history. Jim, take us back to that day. Just right in the beginning what
do you remember going into that game?

JA: Well, I remember being shelled by the Cleveland Indians five days
before that. And so it was a battle of nerves and anxiety from the very
beginning and I was a little bit wild to start the game and just kind of
finding my footing and getting the momentum going and working with Matt
Nokes who was the catcher that day and I remember how enthusiastic and
pumped up he was. And then all of a sudden you find yourself in the late
innings and you think wow, this could be possible, you know. And it was
a battle of nerves and anxiety the whole way, but you know culminating
in that ground ball to Randy Velarde, he kind of fielded it on a short
hop, threw it over to Donnie Mattingly, one of my favorite teammates
ever and boom there it was, a no hitter.

FS: What was that final moment like, that final out?

JA: It was just elation. It was one of those moments where you almost
feel like you're outside of yourself, looking down on the scene, you
know that uniform and that city and that stadium, you know. And it's
like a dream come true and you almost can't believe it. And just the joy
of sharing a moment with your teammates, and like I said Matt Nokes was
so great that day and a no-hitter is so unexpected that's what's great
about it. And then all of a sudden, boom, there it is. All this tension,
all this excitement and then wow, it happened.

FS: Do you have a memento from that, left from that? I don't know a
ball? What do you have left over from that?

JA: You know I have a few things, but I think I have one of the coolest
mementos ever from Yankee Stadium, the grounds crew from Yankee Stadium,
the next morning dug out the pitching rubber out of the mount, they
pulled it right out of the mound, they took it in, had it signed by all
my teammates and the umpires who were there and they gave it to me. So I
have an actual pitching rubber, and they're a lot bigger than you think
they are, in my office back home. And it's a real conversation piece,
believe me.

FS: I have no doubt about it. If I was there I'd probably ask you more
about it. I wanted to know though there have been other no-hitters
since, I think for Yankees there have been three since then, why do you
think fans still remember that day so fondly and think about it in such
a warm way?

JA: Maybe because they were so surprised. You know I always had a great
connection, no matter where I was in the United States, you know, with
the Angels or the Brewers or the White Sox, but particularly in New
York. I think they identified with the way I played, you know, growing
up missing my hand, and they always treated me incredibly well. And you
know I think that had a little bit to do with it.

FS: You were back there for Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium and it's
obviously, it's the last year for Yankee Stadium, you got a chance even
to pitch, what was it like being back there?

JA: It was so great, you know Yankee Stadium. It's one of those moments
where you take a look around and you kind of close your eyes and take
those mental snapshots because you want to just remember it as vividly
as possible. And it's also nerve wracking. You put the uniform on for
the first time in a while and I hadn't really thrown many balls around
and I got there, I got in the locker room, G. Michael looks at me and
says okay, you're pitching, first guy up is Ricky Henderson, the next
guy is Wade Boggs.

FS: Oh, he made it easy for you, right?

JA: Two of the greatest guys I ever faced in my career. So I knew I had
to try to throw some strikes.

FS: Now I'll say this Jim, a one handed pitcher is one thing, but from
what I understand you also really can hit. And Mariano Ravero (ph.) said
that, I mean, you can really hit some homeruns into the bleachers there
during batting practice. How were you able to master hitting as well?

JA: Well, I don't know that I mastered it. I think he's being very kind
there. I know what he was talking about, there was a time one time in
spring training in the back fields and I was with the Yankees and
Louisiana Lightening, Ron Giddering (ph.) was throwing batting practice
to us pitchers, it was kind of a flue (ph.) around moment, and I
actually got lucky, connected on a ball and hit it over the fence. And
you know batting practice off Ron Giddering, but I'll still take it.

FS: We're looking at some video here. I would take it too. Now give us
some idea, you're now doing some work to help people that have
disabilities find employment, tell us a little bit about that.

JA: Yeah, I'm really excited about it. I'm in the Washington area. You
know, baseball was such a great opportunity for me to find myself, to
use the talent that I could, to feel like I belonged, you know, that was
my talent. And since I've been done I've been doing some work with the
Department of Labor, their Office of Disability Employment, and I'm
finding out that more and more people with disabilities don't have the
venues to prove themselves.

> And so we're trying to work with businesses out there and employers
> and try to have them look at people with disabilities the same way
> major league baseball looked at me for their talents and not what they
> don't have but what they do have. And it's a hard uphill battle, but
> we're working hard at it and you know just want to see people get
> opportunities.

FS: Well, Jim, thanks for sharing a great moment with us and a great
cause now that you're working on. I'd be remiss if I didn't say it, go
Blue.

JA: Absolutely, go Blue.

FS: By the way Jim Abbott spent ten seasons in the majors in case you
forgot. He won 87 games, had a career ERA of 4.25.

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