WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Newsday - Long Island, NY, USA - A day rarely passes in Jim Abbott's life when he is not reminded of his most memorable day in the majors. Inside Abbott's office, he has on display the pitching rubber that was on the Yankee Stadium mound Sept. 4, 1993, the day he no-hit the Indians.

Abbott, who was born without a right hand, said the grounds crew dug up the rubber after the game and had his teammates and the umpires sign it. He received it as a gift, and almost 15 years later, it's one of his most cherished items from his playing career.

"It's dirty, it's beat up and it's kind of weird," Abbott said Thursday by phone from his Southern California home. "People wonder what in the heck is that?"

Abbott, 40, talks about that game a lot. He spends his time now as a motivational speaker, and his no-hitter is a part of the speech he gives as he goes from city to city telling his life story to businesses, schools, hospitals and rehabilitation centers.

Five days before Abbott threw the eighth no-hitter by a Yankee, he hit a low point in his season. Facing the Indians in Cleveland, he allowed seven runs, 10 hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings.

"I was frustrated, down and disappointed," Abbott said. "I was wondering how I was going to turn it around, and then five days later, I had one of the great moments of my whole life."

He believes it's a lesson to never count yourself out. Abbott likes to sum it up this way: "You might be down now, but you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

What happened on Sept. 4, 1993, was that Abbott's no-hitter was saved by a sparkling seventh-inning play by third baseman Wade Boggs. It was Boggs who had struck out swinging for the final out of Dave Righetti's no-hitter on July 4, 1983 - the last time a no-hitter had been pitched at Yankee Stadium.