One thing that gives me great joy is celebrating people from my hometown of Flint, Michigan, who have accomplished something extraordinary. In fact, there are many members of this Monday Morning Mojo community who are from Flint and belong to that group :-).

One Flintoid, who I don’t know personally, but many friends do, is Jim Abbott, the standout pitcher and 1985 graduate from Flint Central High School, who also played at the University of Michigan. In 1989, following a great college career, Jim was drafted by the California Angels, where he made his professional debut in April of that year. His real fame, however, came on September 4, 1993, when he pitched a no-hitter for the New York Yankees against the Cleveland, Indians.

A no-hitter in the MLB (Major League Baseball) is a feat unto itself, yet what makes Jim’s story so remarkable is that he was born with one hand and taught himself, with coaching help, how to play baseball. That’s right, Jim was a professional baseball player using only one hand.

Some of you may be familiar with Jim because I have written about him before. BUT, what you may not know is that last month Jim was featured by ESPN in a documentary about his life, entitled Southpaw. The name was given to this film because he is a left-handed pitcher. As a lefty and Flintoid myself, I couldn’t be prouder of Jim’s success and accomplishments and I absolutely loved watching this.

This emotional, inspiring documentary is 90 minutes long and well worth the time to watch, if you want to be inspired by someone who is born with a handicap, beats the odds, comes out on top and is a hero to many. This is a fantastic watch available on ESPN. I have included a short promotional clip below.

More Left-Handed Accomplishments

Continuing the theme of lefty one-handed feats, I also came across a story last month in the New York Times about a one-handed pianist. Nicholas McCarthy is his name, and last month he was the feature performer at the Royal Albert Hall in London, for a concert at the Proms, Britain’s most prominent classical music series.

Apparently, in front of a packed audience, which was also televised, McCarthy performed Maurice Ravel’s bravura Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.

Here is a clip featuring McCarthy introducing the world of left-hand piano repertoire.

I know the next time I think something is impossible, I am going to remind myself of both Jim and Nicholas’ stories.

Introducing Banana Ball

The final inspiration from July comes from my neighbor in Los Angeles, Rosalie Roth. I asked Rosalie what inspired her, and she told me watching the new game of Banana Ball is her latest inspiration.

After some research, I found “Banana Ball” is a new, fan-focused version of baseball introduced by the Savannah Bananas. It features fast-paced games, unconventional rules, and a focus on entertainment, like flash mob dances and more. I have seen some funky videos on this, and then I noticed CBS’s “60 Minutes” did a feature on the sport in April.

Since explaining “Banana Ball” is not that easy, if you have the time and want some entertainment, here’s the “60 Minutes” clip.

Thanks to all of you for being part of this community. I hope the stories of Jim and Nicholas inspire you as they did me, and if you are like Rosalie and want to view, a new fun and emerging sport, I hope you get to witness a live game of Banana Ball sometime, somewhere in the future.

Have a great month ahead.