By Ed Feulner
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Small wonder that Yankee pitcher Mariano Rivera grabbed
the spotlight at the latest All-Star Game. His perfect eighth-inning relief
appearance not only helped the American League win the game, it showcased the
kind of success story that Americans love.
Going from a life in a poor fishing village in Panama to
the top of a pitching mound in New York City is pretty impressive. It’s hard
not to be inspired by the opportunity that America affords people who are
willing to work hard and pursue their dreams -- and wonder about those who
haven’t had those chances.
The late author and paleontologist Steven Gould once
said, “I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of
Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have
lived and died in cotton fields and sweat shops.” His observation is
undoubtedly true. Throughout history, many gifted people have been crushed by
misfortune and never had the opportunity to exercise their talents.
What separates success from failure is how an individual
transcends the circumstances that confront him. The history of the United
States is filled with stories of individuals overcoming adversity that, had
they lived elsewhere the world, would have been held in captivity by the
circumstances into which they were born.
Take Jim Abbott. Like many boys, he loved baseball. But
Jim was different. Born in Flint, Mich., in 1967, he seemed unlikely to grow up
and play Little League baseball, let alone make it to the major leagues. Jim,
you see, was born without a right hand, so playing a sport that required every
appendage seemed to be a bridge too far to be realized. Someone forgot to
convince Jim of that.
Jim wanted to play baseball and be a pitcher, so he set
about practicing. He developed a system by which he could deliver a pitch and
have his glove in a ready position by the time the ball crossed the plate. Jim
was good. He was so good, in fact, that he was drafted out of high school by
the Toronto Blue Jays, but instead opted for college at the University of
Michigan.
While at the university, Jim led the Wolverines to two
Big Ten championships, and he was the first baseball pitcher to be awarded the
James E. Sullivan Award as amateur athlete of the year in 1987. It was a major
accomplishment for anyone, let alone someone with only one hand. But Jim wasn’t
finished yet.
After his amazing college career, Jim was drafted in the
first round by the California Angels and spent the next 10 years living out the
dream of every little boy who ever played on a sandlot. What’s more, Jim joined
the exclusive club of pitchers who have ever thrown a no-hitter when, in 1993,
he blanked the Cleveland Indians.
When you first hear his story without being told that Jim
Abbott was born with only one hand, you would never know it, never even think
it. But once the surprise of his story wears off, it gives way to an
acknowledgement that it makes perfect sense. Jim Abbott, after all, is an
American, and America is all about amazing stories.
Each story of an individual seizing the opportunities
presented to him, or creating his own opportunities through his choices, is a
testament to a nation that values individual liberty and ingenuity. Only in a
society that values the individual will someone like Clarence Thomas -- a
descendant of slaves, born into poverty and segregation -- have the opportunity
to become an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Only by returning to our long-standing belief that we are
a nation of individuals limited merely by our imaginations, and not by the
government, will we continue to reap the harvest of creativity and prosperity
that our system is uniquely suited to foster.
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