He played in Major League Baseball for the California Angels, New York Yankees, Chicago White Sox, and Milwaukee Brewers, from 1989 to 1999.

[1][4] He was the flag-bearer for the United States at the 1987 Pan American Games in Indianapolis, helping lead the US to a second-place finish.

[4][6] Baseball was a demonstration sport in the 1988 Summer Olympics; he pitched the final game, winning an unofficial gold medal for the United States.

In the offseason, the Angels attempted to trim payroll and traded Abbott to the New York Yankees for their top minor league prospect first baseman J.T.

[8] On November 26 in the same year, he appeared as himself on the TV series Boy Meets World in the episode "Class Pre-Union".

In 1994, Abbott's Yankees led the AL East, but the season was halted and the playoffs were canceled, due to a players strike on August 12.

On July 27, 1995, the White Sox traded him and Tim Fortugno to the Angels for McKay Christensen, Andrew Lorraine, Bill Simas, and John Snyder.

Then he would secure the glove between his right forearm and torso, slip his hand out of it, and remove the ball from it, usually in time to throw out the runner at first or sometimes even start a double play.

But he tripled in a spring training game in 1991 off Rick Reuschel,[13] and when he joined the National League's Milwaukee Brewers in 1999, he had two hits in 21 at-bats, both off Jon Lieber.

[14][15] New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera claimed to have witnessed Abbott hitting home runs during batting practice.

I truly believe that difficult times and disappointments can push us to find abilities and strengths we wouldn't know existed without the experience of struggle.

"[17] In April 2012, Abbott's autobiography, Imperfect: An Improbable Life (ISBN 0345523253), co-written with Tim Brown, was published by Ballantine Books.