Full-circle moments, jokes and All-Stars: Halifax County standout Abbott heads to Atlanta with baseball’s elite

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona gathered his guys in a circle during the Reds’ showdown against the Miami Marlins last Tuesday evening. Under most circumstances, such a meeting means there’s going to be some yelling, stern talking to’s and maybe even a few accusations of the players being lollygaggers…

Former Halifax County standout Andrew Abbott (left) jokes with teammate and fellow All-Star Elly De La Cruz (right) after finding out he’d been named to the NL All-Star Team during the Reds’ showdown against the Miami Marlins Tuesday night. PHOTO: Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo.

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona gathered his guys in a circle during the Reds’ showdown against the Miami Marlins last Tuesday evening. Under most circumstances, such a meeting means there’s going to be some yelling, stern talking to’s and maybe even a few accusations of the players being lollygaggers.

This isn’t one of those meetings …

Instead of delivering any of the above, Francona booms, “Andrew Abbott is a [insert colorful word] All-Star.”

Not exactly what the former Halifax County High School and University of Virginia standout and Reds lefty starter and him teammates were expecting.

Every team, at every level of baseball, has a group of guys known for being jokesters and Abbott, along with fellow starter Nick Martinez, are two of those guys for the Reds. In fact, Abbott had just finished delivering a joke to Martinez when Francona called the meeting, leading Abbott to believe he was about to get chewed out by his skipper.

“My thought process originally was I was getting yelled at,” Abbott recalled laughing. “Me and [Martinez], who was the starter for the game, we’ve always been jokesters with each other, keeping it light energy and what not and I was worried he had heard one of my jokes to Martinez and was actually kind of mad so when he called us over, that’s what was going through my head. Then he says, ‘Guys, I’m going to tell you one thing, Andrew Abbott is a [colorful word] All-Star and the whole dugout erupts.”

The ensuing celebration took on a life of its own inside the Reds’ dugout as the camera panned over to Abbott’s teammates pelting him with ice, sunflower seeds and pieces of bubble gum, whatever they could get their hands on, making the moment the only time Abbott will enjoy getting pelted by anything at the stadium.

“It means a whole lot to have teammates like that, teammates that are constantly behind you, constantly supporting you,” Abbott said. “They’re a great group of guys and I didn’t know what to expect with this being the first time I’ve been selected as an All-Star so getting pelted with the bubble gum, ice, seeds, whatever they could get their hands on was great. It kind of sucks in the moment getting ice down your shirt and water thrown on you but it was great and made a tremendous video from the dugout. I wouldn’t be here without these guys so it means the world they care so much.”

Cincinnati lefty starter Andrew Abbott delivers a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians last month. Abbott threw his first complete game and a three-hit shutout in the win. PHOTO: Associated Press.

TALK WITH ANY BASEBALL PLAYER, current or former, and you’ll hear a reoccurring theme: Baseball is a game of full-circle moments. A law as consistent as gravity and proven by Abbott’s career.

It’s 2022. Abbott is standing on the field at Day Air Ballpark, home of the Reds’ High-A affiliate, the Dayton Dragons, catching his breath after his fourth start of the season, one that saw him throw six innings of three-hit, shutout ball and strike out six.

Abbott is in the middle of a conversation with his parents, David and Jeanette, when Dayton pitching coach Brian Garman walks over to him and tells him he needs to talk with him in his office. Knowing the upcoming discussion is going to go one of two ways, Abbott tells his parents goodbye and cautiously heads to his coach’s office.

The conversation turns out well for Abbott as he receives the news he’s been promoted to the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Reds’ Double-A affiliate.

Flash forward three years later to last Tuesday. Abbott has once again received big news and once again, David and Jeanette are in the stands. However, unlike Dayton, Abbott is in the middle of the game and limited in terms of communication.

“It was kind of funny because I obviously can’t go up in the stands and tell them face-to-face and we can’t make phone calls during MLB games so I was like, ‘I guess a text will have to do,’” Abbott recalled laughing. “I sent them a text saying this is unofficial, it isn’t out yet, it’s dropping at 8 p.m., don’t tell anybody, keep it hush, hush, but I’ll be seeing everybody in Atlanta and that’s when it really hit me. I dreamed of getting into the MLB and now I’m getting the honor of being an All-Star so it’s a full circle kind of moment.”

Abbott, now in his third year in the bigs, knows there’s no crying in baseball and he’s not that emotional of a guy even if there was. However, that doesn’t mean he didn’t have some feels in the moment.

“I’m not a real emotional guy so I didn’t cry or anything but I was definitely feeling it a bit for sure,” Abbott recalled. “You have goals and the first goal is to get to college, then the next is to get drafted, then it’s stick around, make a few All-Star Games and have a long career and I think I’m well on the way towards that.”

There’s an old adage that goes, “no man is an island,” meaning nobody accomplishes anything completely on his or her own. We all have a little help along the way. And while Abbott has shouldered the majority of his success, he’s had quite the support system with David and Jeanette being right at the top.

“They laid out a great plan of how to raise me, how to teach me the right things and they did it early on,” Abbott said. “They set me up with [Jeff Stevens] and [Billy Wagner] and all these pitching coaches who have hammered home the mentality I’ve needed. My parents have always been in my corner, always been a phone call or a drive away and have been great role models and provided a great support system whether it’s baseball or life decisions I need to make and I’m eternally grateful for that. I could never pay them back for everything they’ve done but I feel like they’re living vicariously through me so these moments mean a lot to me.”

Not long after receiving the news, Abbott tracked down teammate and bud Elly De La Cruz, who had been named to his second consecutive National League All-Star Team a few days earlier, and the two shared a laugh, providing each other with another full-circle moment.

“I’ve played with [Elly] everywhere, he’s going back for his second All-Star Game, much deserved, should be starting in my opinion but he’s going back for his second and I get to go to my first with him,” Abbott said. “We played in the Futures Game together in 2022 and now we’re going to the All-Star Game together so once again, it’s a full-circle moment. It’s crazy how many times it pops up over a career but it does.”

Andrew Abbott delivers a pitch against the Miami Marlins last Wednesday. PHOTO: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster.

WHEN THE ALL-STAR TEAMS were released last Wednesday, Abbott’s name wasn’t on the list, leading to quite a few grumblings within the Reds’ organization and fan base and this writer to nearly writing a column on a conspiracy theory within MLB to keep Abbott off the team.

All jokes aside, it was absolutely absurd Abbott was left off the team given the numbers he’s put up so far this season. The lefty finished the first half of the season with an overall 8–1 record and a 2.07 ERA and 83 strikeouts over 91.1 innings thrown

While he’s been effective most of the season, May was when he was the deadliest, posting a 0.55 ERA, three wins and 33 strikeouts in 32.2 innings thrown over the course of the month. Highlights included his start against the Braves (May 6) where he threw five innings of four-hit shutout ball and struck out eight and his start against the White Sox (May 13) where he scattered four hits and a run and struck out seven in the six-inning start. Abbott saved the best for last as he was masterful in a win over the Cubs (May 30), throwing a one-hit shutout and striking out eight over seven innings in his final start of the month.

Surrounded by the hype of such a stretch, it would’ve been easy for Abbott to get lost in the noise and lights. However, he kept his head and nose to the grindstone and put the rest to the side.

“It was really hammering down the things I had already done well and taking up the effort in focusing on what I was struggling in or where something wasn’t right, something didn’t feel right,” Abbott said. “DJ [pitching coach Derek Johnson] and I were mixing around with tempo and trying to find a click in the mechanics of my pitching and I really feel like we found it in May and since then it’s been like, ‘hey, we’re going to continue to work on these things, day in and day out, then go out and compete and keep it as simple as possible.”

That doesn’t mean he wasn’t touched or struck by the streak, even if it didn’t register until it was over.

“I think you always have to trust that you have the ability in you, know that you can do it but I didn’t really pay attention to the noise until I finished the last game in Chicago on the 30th and that’s really when I sat back and went, ‘wow, I really did it big this May,” Abbott said. “It was a really great month for a lot of pitchers so I was just kind of awestruck in the moment. It was crazy. It was every bit of what a kid dreams of. Success and going out there and doing your job the best you can.”

As far as his emotions after being snubbed?

“I’ve always been a realist and try to keep it as much in the middle as I can,” Abbott said. “I try not to be too optimistic, I try not to be too pessimistic. I just try to play the middle ground as much as I can. I knew there was a good chance I would get a selection and a good chance I wouldn’t. I came to grips with that early on. I knew I was having a good first half, I knew I was going to be on the so-called cut line so I was okay with not getting selected. I was like, ‘okay, I can miss out on being selected and get a nice little rest and go out and dominate the second half or I could get the honor and still go out and dominate the second half.’”

“The process isn’t really outlined so we don’t really know what’s going on behind the scenes or who’s making the decisions so we can’t control it and like you said, I’m not really the kind of guy that worries about things I can’t control so I was like, ‘if I get the call great, if not, I’ll have some nice days to go outside and go fishing.”

As fate would have it, Abbott not only got the nod but also a day to go fishing as he was prepping to go following this interview this past Thursday.

IT’S JUNE 10. PROGRESSIVE FIELD. Home of the Cleveland Guardians. Abbott has just finished his start against the Guardians and is doing an interview with a FanDuel reporter when several of his teammates sneak up behind and douse him with water.

And why not? After all, he had just thrown the first complete game of his big league career and worked a three-hit shutout in the Reds’ 1–0 win over the Guardians. If that’s not impressive enough, he allowed one walk and struck out five while throwing 110 pitches.

Once again, it was a feat Abbott didn’t focus on until it was nearly over.

“At the beginning, it was business as usual but then as we started getting later in the game and it’s the seventh inning and I saw I’d only thrown 75 pitches and we were getting to the nitty gritty, I knew I needed to have a chip on my shoulder from that point on,” Abbott said. “Our bullpen had been used a lot, we had two or three guys that needed a break and I knew I had to do what I had to do to be efficient and get through as much of the game as I could and limit what those guys needed to do. They’ve been dogs the entire year and pitching day in and day out for us and doing a hell of a job so I felt like it was my job to give them a day off.”

It was the first nine-inning complete game for a Cincy pitcher since Wade Miley’s no-hitter at Cleveland, ironically, on May 7, 2021, and the first 1–0 shutout since Homer Bailey threw a no-hitter at Pittsburgh on Sept. 28, 2012.

That doesn’t mean it all came easy for Abbott.

Trouble came in the ninth when Abbott walked leadoff batter Steven Kwan on five pitches. After working a full count to David Fry, Abbott induced a hard ground ball at 105.6 mph hit to De La Cruz at shortstop. De La Cruz snatched the ball and fired to Matt McLain who turned the double play. That wasn’t the end of it, though, as Jose Ramirez smacked a single that brought the potential go-ahead run to the plate. However, Will Benson tracked down and caught Carlos Santana’s drive to the warning track in left-center to end the game.

It was a moment that showed Abbott’s wits. His secret?

“You just have to take a break and find something on the outside, something in the stadium, something that brings you back into the moment so for me, it’s like cleaning off the rubber or taking your hat off for a second and looking at it and reset. Those kind of moments pull you back and allow you to refocus and get back to work,” Abbott said.

Tying things back into the full-circle theme, former George Washington baseball standout and fellow University of Virginia baseball standout Paul Gillespie was in attendance for Abbott’s game as the Senior Vice President of Scouting for the Guardians.

From the collegiate ranks to the minors all the way to the bigs, the world of baseball is a small one, meaning Abbott had heard Gillespie’s name before and knew he was a fellow Southside Virginia kid and UVa. alum, even if he hadn’t met Gillespie before.

“I’d heard the name before but I can’t really remember if I’ve run into him in person, I want to say I have but I’m not exactly certain,” Abbott recalled. “But I can see the staff details and where he’s from so I knew something was there.”

While Abbott might not know Gillespie personally, he does know Gillespie has done a fine job of putting his team together, making the accomplishment that much sweeter.

“Obviously, they have some really good players so having success against guys like that is what feeds you,” Abbott said. “I can say, ‘okay, I just pitched really well against this team and this talent.’ Sometimes this isn’t always a fun game, it can be repetitive, a grind and you need a moment like that to spark the magic again.”

Andrew Abbott delivers a pitch in the top of the first inning of a game against the Miami Marlins on July 9. PHOTO: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster.

LIKE MOST OF HIS MAJOR LEAGUE PEERS, Abbott grew up with a very specific set of dreams. Play high school ball. Move onto the college level. Get drafted. Make his way through the ranks. Get to the bigs. Have a successful career. Make a few All-Star Games. Make and win a World Series.

If his 10-year-old could only see him now.

“I think this All-Star is a little better than the Ozone,” Abbott said laughing. “But I know this would be right up there at the top of little Andrew’s list. I’ve always thought to myself, ‘hey, I want to do this,’ and I’ve strived my entire life to get here. I’ve sacrificed, missed stuff, and looking back, it’s things like my All-Star selection that make it all worth it.”

While Abbott is almost two decades removed from the youth leagues of Southside Virginia, there are hundreds, thousands, of kids making their through the ranks of local baseball, dreaming of being where Abbott is now. To them Abbott has to say:

“Just keep working hard, it’s not easy, it’s never going to be easy, especially the way the game is changing. Put in the work in the shadows where no one sees and always stay true to yourself and stay strong mentally. This game is destined to put people out because they get drained mentally and lose that edge and don’t care about it anymore. You have to stay humble, know you’re going to fail a lot more than you’re going to succeed and be able to handle that mentally. Go figure it out, compete every day, go to work and get seen.”