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  #1  
Old 04-13-2007, 04:19 AM
VickreyAuction VickreyAuction is offline
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Default One Armed Basketball Player

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1753319

wow!
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  #2  
Old 04-13-2007, 05:21 AM
Dynasty Dynasty is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

It's impressive, of course. But, I think you can find many other examples of handicapped people playing a sport impressively.

It certainly doesn't compare to Jim Abbott throwing a no-hitter in the big leagues. Or, finishing third in the 1991 AL Cy Young award with 18 wins and a 2.89 ERA.
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  #3  
Old 04-13-2007, 10:54 AM
g-bebe g-bebe is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

I tihnk what's most impressive is how quick he is. With two arms, he'd be even mroe deadly at passing.

But sheesh... his opponents have brutal ballhandling skills.
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  #4  
Old 04-13-2007, 01:22 PM
MicroBob MicroBob is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

I actually think the success of Pete Gray as a one-armed OF is more impressive than that of Abbott.

Gray didn't do much in his one season at the major-league level but had a couple of exception years in the minors.


Major-League:
1945 - St Louis Browns, 77 gms, .218, 13 rbi, 5sb

Minor-League player of the Year:
1944 - Memphis, .333, 5 HR, 68sb


"He found his way onto semi-pro teams in his local area and later joined the Brooklyn Bushwicks. In 1942, he played for Three Rivers of the Canadian-American League and hit .381 in 42 games.

He moved to Memphis of the Southern Association in 1943 and played centerfield, hitting .289 over the course of the season. In 1944, he put together a season that would get him noticed by Major League scouts. He hit .333 with 5 home runs and stole 68 bases. Baseball writers in the minor league circuit named Gray Player of the Year and the Browns paid $20,000 to Memphis for his contract.

His impact wasn't as great at the Major League level with a higher level of athlete. However, he had moments where he stood out among his peers. He made his debut on April 18, 1945, and collected a hit in 4 at-bats.

On May 20, 1945, he had an incredible performance as the Browns beat the Yankees 10-1 and 5-2 in a doubleheader. Gray had 2 RBI on 3 hits in the first game and scored the winning run in the second game.

Gray played in 77 games and had 234 at-bats. He had 51 hits, 13 RBI and 5 stolen bases. It is reported that outfielders played him so shallow that shots that would have been bloop hits for most players were fly outs for Gray.

He was sent down after the 1945 season as more players who had been in military service returned to baseball. Gray was out of baseball for the 1947 season, but returned to play for Elmira in 1948 where he hit .290 in 82 games. He played in the minors and played on barnstorming teams until the 1950s and then retired to Nanicoke, Pennsylvania.

In the field

As he played, Gray wore a glove without the padding. When the ball was hit to him, he made the catch with the glove directly in front of him -- normally about shoulder height. As the ball hit the glove, he would roll the glove and ball across his chest from left to right.

Somehow, in this process, he learned to separate the ball from the glove. In the motion, this glove would come to rest under the stump of his right arm and the ball would end up in his left hand.

In handling ground balls, he would let the ball bounce off his glove about knee height in front of him. He would flip off the glove and grab the ball while it was still in the air.

Some said this process allowed Gray to field balls faster than other outfielders he was playing with who didn't face the same handicap. When he was backing up another outfielder, he would drop the glove and be ready to take the ball in his hand.

At the plate

Gray, despite having just one arm, used a full weight, regulation bat. He was described as standing back behind the plate and cocking the bat as any other hitter would. His hand was six inches or so up on the handle and he would take a full cut. He was described as being a pure pull hitter. "
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  #5  
Old 04-13-2007, 01:50 PM
Triumph36 Triumph36 is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

i knew about pete gray playing during the war years but didn't know that much - that was awesome, bob
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  #6  
Old 04-13-2007, 02:21 PM
MicroBob MicroBob is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

yeah. lots of people think he was just some freak show who they called up for his one big-league season.
But he was a legit player at the highest minor-league levels.


I remember watching the cheesy made-for-TV movie about him when I was 15 or so titled "A Winner Never Quits. The Pete Gray Story" from 1986.
They only show him at the very end of the film playing in the big-leagues. It was all about his struggles and eventual successes in the minors.

Not exactly a great film. More of an 'afterschool-special inspirational' type thing with some over-the-top acting bit it is probably a little better than most made-for-TV movies.

Pete also befriends some little kid also with one arm who writes to him for extra heart-string-tugging.

Keith Carradine played Pete Gray.
Dana Delaney and Mare Winningham are also in it.
Ed O'Neill (from Married With Children) plays Pete Gray's mentally-challenged older-brother (from too many boxing matches I believe)

Ross Porter of the L.A. Dodgers handles the play-by-play during the film.
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  #7  
Old 04-13-2007, 02:34 PM
TheNoodleMan TheNoodleMan is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

[ QUOTE ]
I actually think the success of Pete Gray as a one-armed OF is more impressive than that of Abbott.

[/ QUOTE ]

With all due respect you and Mr. Gray, you are out to lunch on this one.

Playing a half a year in the majors while its ranks were thinned by the war is nowhere near as impressive as playing 10 years in the expansion era.

Gray was the ultimate feel good story, but Abbott had an actual impact as a player.
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  #8  
Old 04-13-2007, 02:57 PM
Homer Homer is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I actually think the success of Pete Gray as a one-armed OF is more impressive than that of Abbott.

[/ QUOTE ]

With all due respect you and Mr. Gray, you are out to lunch on this one.

Playing a half a year in the majors while its ranks were thinned by the war is nowhere near as impressive as playing 10 years in the expansion era.

Gray was the ultimate feel good story, but Abbott had an actual impact as a player.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like Pete Gray had much more of an uphill battle than Jim Abbott. Having a deformed hand and having to move your glove from one hand to the other after a pitch is nowhere near as difficult as hitting with one arm.
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  #9  
Old 04-13-2007, 07:50 PM
jedi jedi is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I actually think the success of Pete Gray as a one-armed OF is more impressive than that of Abbott.

[/ QUOTE ]

With all due respect you and Mr. Gray, you are out to lunch on this one.

Playing a half a year in the majors while its ranks were thinned by the war is nowhere near as impressive as playing 10 years in the expansion era.

Gray was the ultimate feel good story, but Abbott had an actual impact as a player.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like Pete Gray had much more of an uphill battle than Jim Abbott. Having a deformed hand and having to move your glove from one hand to the other after a pitch is nowhere near as difficult as hitting with one arm.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jim Abbott

[ QUOTE ]
Another highlight of Abbott's excellent 1991 campaign was a 375-foot triple he drove into the gap in a spring training contest against the San Francisco Giants. Since the Angels were in the American League where the designated hitter is used, Abbott didn't get to bat during the regular season.

[/ QUOTE ]

(High School)
[ QUOTE ]
Even his hitting was exceptional. Jim batted from the left side, wrapping his left hand around the bat and the stub of his right arm. He was able to generate remarkable power, blasting seven homers and batting an excellent .427 as a senior. On the mound that year he won ten games and lost three with an incredibly low 0.76 ERA and averaged more than two strikeouts per inning pitched.

[/ QUOTE ]
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  #10  
Old 04-13-2007, 08:01 PM
MicroBob MicroBob is offline
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Default Re: One Armed Basketball Player

Yes, Abbott was awesome and could definitely hit.
But this isn't the basis of his 'accomplishments'.

He was a really good pitcher who happened to have one arm.
While this is pretty cool it just isn't THAT big a deal because you simply don't need 2 arms to pitch.

Pete Gray was an everyday position-player playing a position where 2 arms are generally considered to be mandatory.

Yup, Abbott actually did okay with the stick when he got the chance.
Yup, Gray wasn't exactly hall-of-fame material.
But Gray was an everyday position player and a darned good one which is clearly quite the accomplishment.


Hijack - I saw Abbott pitch in college when U of Michigan came to Miami (Ohio). Probably 1988 or so. I think I was about 16 or 17.
Miami's coach wasn't terribly brilliant but he also wasn't the first to come up with the brilliant idea of trying to bunt on Abbott.
Abbott fielded 3 bunts in the first 2 innings expertly and easily threw out each of the Miami batters.
So much for trying to bunt on the 1-armed dude.
I think he threw a 1-hitter or something in that game.
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