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SECAUCUS, N.J. (AP) -- Jim Abbott vividly remembers sitting nervously at home in Flint, Michigan, the tension broken only by one life-changing phone call.
On the other side of the line were the Angels, announcing to the left-handed pitcher that they had selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 1988 baseball draft.
''It's like Christmas Day, times 100,'' a smiling Abbott recalled Thursday night. ''You know Santa Claus is coming, but you're not sure when he's coming.