All his life, Chris Moore has wanted people to recognize him simply as a baseball player.
Not a novelty, not a sympathy case.
A ballplayer.
But for Moore, a freshman pitcher at Dyersburg State Community College, that's always been difficult. He can't conceal his handicap.
"Special Olympics and things like that are OK for others, but it's important for me to compete with normal kids," said the 19-year-old Moore, of tiny Hornersville in the Missouri Bootheel, who was born with cerebral palsy in his right hand and leg. "All I want to be is a ballplayer."
The condition forces Moore to pitch and catch with his left hand, a feat nothing short of phenomenal but something he's done so long he can't remember how he learned.
"I don't remember starting it," said Moore, who walks and runs with a limp. "I just did it, I guess. All I remember is playing catch over and over when I was a kid."
Moore received his first glove from his dad, Buddy, when he was 3 or 4. "My dad's the one who pushed me. He never let me slack."
DSCC Coach Jack Overbey marvels at Moore's talent and competitiveness.
"He's an inspiration to me," Overbey said. "Just being around him fires me up. And if that kid isn't an inspiration to the other guys on our team, then there's nothing that would motivate them."
Moore was the stopper in DSCC's bullpen this spring, finishing the season with an impressive 2-0 record and three saves in 17 2/3 innings pitched. He also had 11 strikeouts and a 3.56 earned run average.
"I knew I could pitch (on the college level) if I got the chance," Moore said.
Overbey admits he was reluctant to take a chance on Moore. He was more interested in Moore's high school teammates (Ryan Hunter and Sean Brooks) than he was in risking a scholarship on a handicapped athlete. "It was strictly a gamble," Overbey said.
When fall semester began, however, all three players fro Senath-Hornersville High School's state runner-ups were on Overbey's roster.
"There was something about him that was different," Overbey said. "The kid has a pure love for baseball because that's all he talks about. But the big thing was he wanted to stay with his buddies. They're like brothers."
The trio has been playing baseball together since they were big enough to swing a bat, Moore said.
"Every time they advanced a level, I kept playing right with them," Moore said. "But I wouldn't want to be on the team just because it's a novelty. I wouldn't feel right.
"As long as I can compete, I'm going to go on until they tell me I can't play anymore," he said.
Greg Holifield, who coaches Senath-Hornersville High, remembered Moore and his buddies well. They helped Senate capture four consecutive district titles.
"We've got a good baseball tradition here and those kids were certainly a part of that," Holifield said. "Ryan and Sean were outstanding high school pitchers. And Chris, every time he got the call, he did the job. He's a competitor, a battler. If you need a win or someone to close out a win, he's got the mental makeup for it."
Moore is now only used as a relief pitcher, where he doesn't have to worry about batting, but he also played first base in high school. "I can put the wood on the ball," he said.
Moore's teammates cheer wildly whenever he pitches, yelling for the guy they call "Egger" or "Eggersley" after Oakland A's reliever Dennis Eckersley.
"Ryan and Sean brought that nickname for me from high school," Moore said sheepishly. "One Halloween night somebody hit me on the head with an egg, and the next day at school, everybody started calling me 'egger' and 'egghead.' That eventually grew into 'Eggersley.'"
Moore now leaves egg on the faces of opposing batters.
"If I've got all of my pitches going, I can strike you out," said Moore, who throws a fastball, curve and screwball.
Overbey recalled worrying about Moore when he first pitched in a fall scrimmage game.
"I know he can pitch," Overbey said. "What scares me is for people to bunt on him. But last fall, we were scrimmaging Bethel College and this boy hit a line drive that hit Chris on the foot.
"We rushed him to the hospital for X-rays and he was all right," he continued. "When we got back to the field, his dad looked and him and said, 'Boy, I told you to quit throwing that damn pitch.'"
Holifield said that story is consistent with Moore and his father's approach to the game.
"He'll stick his nose in there and take shots off his body if he has to," Holifield said.
Overbey no longer worries about Moore getting hurt or other teams trying to exploit hs handicap.
"At this particular time, I have all the confidence in the world (in him)," Overbey said. "I wouldn't hesitate one second to put him in any situation against anybody we play."
Watching the southpaw Moore on the mound immediately reminds you of Jim Abbott, the California Angels pitcher who was born without a right hand and never pitched in the minor leagues. He made an extraordinary jump from the University of Michigan and pitching for the gold medal-winning 1988 U.S. Olympic team straight to the major leagues.
Last year, Abbott began the season with seven straight losses but erased any doubts he belonged in the majors when he rebounded to post an 18-11 record.
"The only difference between he and Abbott is that Chris is crippled in his leg, too," Overbey said.
Moore met Abbott two summers ago in Kansas City prior to a
Royals-
Angels game.
"We talked about everything," Moore recalled. "He's a real nice man. When I see him pitch, I'm in amazement. I can appreciate the way he does things more than myself.
"Of course, he's done a lot more than I have ... so far," he added, smiling.
Moore is seeking a degree in secondary education and wants to be a coach someday, but he said there's more he would like to accomplish as a player.
"Right now, I just enjoy it when I get out there on the mound," Moore said. "My adrenaline gets flowing. There I am facing batters with two good arms and I've only got one good arm supposedly. It feels good if I can get them out.
"The game's just fun to be around," he added. "I don't know what I'd be doing I wasn't playing ball."
Note: Darrin M. Devault wrote this article in 1991 while a staff member of the State Gazette newspaper in Dyersburg, Tenn.
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