IRVINE, Calif. — It has been nearly 20 years since he made his trumpeted and triumphant major league debut for the Angels, nearly 15 years since he pitched a no-hitter for the New York Yankees and nearly a decade since he threw his last competitive pitch for the Milwaukee Brewers.

At 41, Jim Abbott continues to inspire others, but now his pitch comes from behind a microphone.

"I was born missing my right hand," Abbott said last week, addressing a packed hotel ballroom as the keynote speaker for a luncheon benefiting the Orangewood Children's Foundation. "I never really wanted to make a big deal out of it; still don't. I know there are a lot of people in this world who have it a lot worse than I do."

A handicap? What handicap? The only one Abbott acknowledges is his SCGA golf index. He's an 11 at Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach. (Think about that one, folks. Think you could break 80 swinging all of your golf clubs with one arm?)

From the beginning, from his high school days in Flint, Mich., to his college years at University of Michigan, to his 10-year career in the majors, it was the media who painted him as "courageous, motivational and inspirational." That, Abbott said, was not an accurate portrayal.

"The truth of my story is I did something I loved to," he said. "I just learned to do it a little differently."

But he did it so well — he fired fastballs and sliders past opposing hitters and then, in a blur, smoothly transferred his glove from his congenitally deformed arm to his pitching hand so he could field his position — he did motivate and inspire many others as he generated headlines around the country.

It wasn't surprising so many magazines and major publications and TV networks did human-interest stories on the one-handed pitcher or that he wound up being interviewed by Larry King and Phil Donahue and David Letterman.

Abbott said he'll never forget the week ABC's "Wide World of Sports" came to Flint, parked its TV truck out in his neighborhood and followed him around for three days, interviewing his family, friends and coaches.

When the feature aired two weeks later, Abbott couldn't believe the narrator was Howard Cosell.

"I had a chance to meet him at a banquet not long after that," Abbott said. "He had a big old cigar in his mouth and he said, 'I know who this is.' And then he slapped me in the face and said, 'Never let 'em forget who discovered you, kid.' And then he walked away."

Abbott laughed at the memory, as did the ballroom audience, as he told several anecdotes about his life on and off the mound and the challenges he faced and conquered.

The only reason he became a motivational speaker after his career is because others told him, "You have a great story. Get out there and tell it."

So Abbott does. There have been many highs and lows — pitching in the Olympics, jumping to the majors right out of college, winning 12 games as a rookie, finishing third in the Cy Young voting in 1991, the no-hitter in 1993, the 2-18 struggle upon his return to Anaheim in 1996. But he knows all of the numbers and honors are not what make his story special.

"I understand the difference that other people can make in your life," he said. "I understand that generosity and support and small gestures can be life-changing."

He remembers how his father taught him to catch and throw in their front yard, the second-grade teacher who taught him how to tie his shoelaces, the high school football coaches who taught him to take the quarterback snap with one hand.

When he isn't traveling around the country on speaking engagements, Abbott says he and wife Dana enjoy their life in Corona del Mar and spend most of their time driving their daughters Maddie, 11, and Ella, 8, from one practice to the next: soccer, swimming, water polo, volleyball and basketball.

One particular speaking engagement a few years ago stands out in his mind. He was invited to talk to a class of 4-year-olds, including one of his daughters, at a pre-school "Career Day."

While answering questions such as "Do you have a dog?" his daughter raised her hand and asked, "Do you like your little hand?"

"It caught me off guard," Abbott said. "I had never really thought about that, but I knew my answer would be important. I said, 'I do like my little hand. I haven't always liked it. It hasn't always been easy, but it taught me an important lesson.'

"You can find your own way of doing things. You can make the most of what you've been given. . . .

There will be challenges, but they don't have to hold you back. And no matter what, you can believe in yourself. Nothing can stop you. Nothing can stop you."