Baseball and Disabilities

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.  This year is also the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.   This law prohibits discrimination in the workplace for people who have disabilities.   Baseball is no different from any other work place and has had it's share of players with disabilities.

Topps trading card company has included a "Pride and Perseverance" insert set in the 2015 Topps Update baseball card set.  Here are the players in the set and his disability:

#1 Buddy Carlyle  - diabetes
#2 Curtis Pride   -born deaf
#3 George Springer - stuttering
#4 Jake Peavy - legally blind without his corrective lenses
#5 Jason Johnson - diabetes
#6 Jim Abbott - born without a right hand
#7 Jim Eisenreich - Tourette's Syndrome
#8 Jon Lester - cancer survivor
#9 Pete Gray - lost arm in childhood accident
#10 Sam Fuld - diabetes
#11 William Hoy - deaf
#12 Anthony Rizzo - cancer survivor

A few notes on the above players. 
-Jason Johnson was the first player to play with an insulin pump on the field.
-Jim Abbott pitched a no hitter in the major leagues
-Jim Eisenreich won a National League pennant with the Phillies and a World Series title with the Marlins. He also was the first ever winner of the Tony Conigliaro Award
-William "Dummy" Hoy was the first prominent player in baseball that was deaf. Some believe he was the reason why the umpires have hand signals for calls.  Others disprove this notion.

The above players are not the only ones with a disability.  Former all stars John Kruk, Eric Davis, Brett Butler and Mike Lowell are all cancer survivors.  Current Tiger pitcher Daniel Norris just recently announced he has thyroid cancer.
Former pitcher Bill Gullickson is also diabetic.  Gullickson pitched for a couple years in Japan and was admired for overcoming type 1 diabetes.  In 1998, an award was established in his name for a patient who is deemed to have a superior influence on society.