LOS ANGELES — He is the first and only deaf player in the contemporary history of Major League Baseball. Curtis Pride is a former professional baseball outfielder who is deaf.
Pride’s story is an inspiration to many because of his determination and perseverance. A veteran of 11 big league seasons over 23 pro seasons overall, he played for the Angels, Yankees, Braves, Red Sox, Tigers and Expos, overcoming the odds and proving his ability surpassed his disability.
Now he has written the next chapter – literally – of his life. His new memoir details his unique journey, on and off the field. It is now available.
I Felt the Cheers, The Remarkable Silent Life of Curtis Pride is an up-close look at the man, taking readers on the ride of a lifetime from the first time he played T-Ball to donning The Pinstripes of the Bronx Bombers.
Pride suggests his disability is anything but a disadvantage.
“I noticed everything. And I mean everything,” he wrote of his ability to compete on the baseball field.
“In addition to watching for shadows, I would pick up the reflections in shiny batting helmets or other players’ sunglasses. If someone wore jewelry, and a lot of players did, I would notice the glint of the gold or a diamond reflecting off the sun or the stadium lights.
“And because I was deaf,” he continued, “I could not multi-task. When a coach gave me instructions, I focused intently. When I studied what the scouts were saying about opposing pitchers, those reports had my full attention; I was unable to be distracted by music, television, or empty chatter.”
Profoundly deaf since birth, he faced a great deal of skepticism from teammates and coaches.
“I am a man of faith, and Pride is one of the seven deadly sins, but I never really cared for that definition. I prefer Webster’s: ‘The quality or state of being proud.’ That was me,” he said.
“I was nothing if not proud—proud of my name, my family, and the circumstances I had to overcome.”
Pride never considered himself a pioneer. Instead he envisioned himself a torch bearer for deaf baseball players and athletes everywhere.
He competed in 421 MLB games. He collected 199 hits. He contributed 20 home runs.
His debut came in 1993 with the Expos. And after his first career hit, he earned a curtain call at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.
He just could not hear it.
In the minor leagues just days earlier, Pride did not get a traditional phone call from the parent club of his forthcoming promotion to the big leagues. Instead the news was delivered in person – Pride can read lips – by his skipper when the team was in Rochester as part of a Triple-A road trip.
“He reached his arm out to me, shook my hand, and told me to get back on the bus and ride back to Ottawa with the team. The Expos had a 1 p.m. game at home the next day against the Cincinnati Reds and they wanted me to be in uniform and ready to play, if needed. After the Lynx team bus arrived back in Ottawa, I was to pack all my clothes and other belongings and drive my own car the remaining 113 miles to Montreal.”
Locally, Pride played parts of three seasons with the Angels from 2004-06.
Said Troy Glaus, the former third baseman with the Halos: “Whether you can hear or not has no bearing on whether you can play the game. Curtis Pride proved that.”
He also more than proved his worth.
“The Angels were in the middle of a pennant race, and they thought I could help,” wrote Pride in his memoir.
“Back in 1993, the Expos gambled on me, believing my game would translate to the Major Leagues, and I will be forever appreciative. The Angels, however, weren’t gambling: They looked at my track record and placed a bet that I could help them win. They knew I would work hard, be good in the clubhouse, play good defense and provide the occasional offensive spark. That endorsement felt good. I felt like me again.”
His biggest hit came in 2004 in the third game of a critical series at Texas. Subbing for an injured Garret Anderson, Pride’s two-out triple in the ninth inning, with his club down 6-5, scored future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero to tie the game.
The Angels won in extra innings. Champagne flowed soon thereafter.
“I felt like a big part of that West Division Championship team,” Pride said, “because that hit was one of many events over the course of the season that enabled the Angels to win the division.”
Pride also admitted the key hit wasn’t so much a testament to his skill in the batter’s box as it was a monument to his overall perseverance and dedication.
The ever-present perseverance and dedication displayed by Pride, who was also a collegiate basketball player and star youth soccer player, is not lost on those around him.
“Curtis is a tremendous athlete. He’s got a great baseball mind. He loves the game and knows the game and that’s the bottom line,” said his former manager, Mike Scioscia. “To us, he’s a ballplayer not a deaf ballplayer.”
It was also during his time in Anaheim he met The Champ: Muhammad Ali once visited an array of MLB clubs during spring training and Pride immediately engaged with “The Louisville Lip.”
“I told Ali that I loved watching him box, had a ton of respect for him, that he was my idol. He could hear me and understood what I was saying but could not respond,” said Pride.
“I still had vivid memories of Muhammad Ali in his prime when he could float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. Now, here he was, moving slowly if at all, unable to speak.
“It was heartbreaking and inspirational, all at the same time. A reminder that we have a limited amount of time to make an impact on the world, delivered to me by the greatest of all-time.”
Ali famously lived out his dreams on the world stage. I Felt the Cheers is further living proof that dreams can come true, no matter how impossible they seem.
Not that it has always been easy.
“I have been called ‘Dummy’ on more than one occasion and when it happens, it comes with malice. Stupid, idiot, numbskull, retard, spaz, and the ever-popular Helen Keller, have all been used to address me.”
A married father of two, Pride knows reacting to any type of taunting would mean a loss of control.
“I take great offense. But I don’t show it.”
