Curtis Pride, good major league ballplayer, who was deaf
Ahead of his major league debut, the Expos' Curtis Pride talked to a reporter about being a rookie, his impending first big league appearance, as well as his hopes going forward.
For Pride, though, his hopes included recognition of his on-the-field talents first and foremost. That he was deaf, the natural topic of so many stories on his career before and after, would be secondary.
"I want to be known as 'Curtis Pride, good ballplayer - and by the way, he's deaf," Pride told The St. Louis Post-Dispatch in September 1993. "But I'm not going to deny that I'm deaf. I can't, and I shouldn't. It's part of who I am. That's no reason to think I can't be a major-league baseball player, though."
It wasn't. From that point, he went on to see the majors over 11 seasons, including 95 games with the Tigers in 1996 and 81 between the Tigers and Red Sox in 1997.
By the time he was done, he'd seen 421 major league games, hit 20 home runs and ended with a .250 big league average.
Pride's career began in 1986, taken by the Mets in the 10th round of the draft out of the College of William and Mary.
In his first season, The Washington Post featured Pride as he played at rookie Kingsport and watched as Pride hit a two-run home run.
The previous year, The Post noted, Pride had played on the U.S. national soccer team for youths age 16 and under, Pride scoring the winning goal against Bolivia.
"I have so much confidence in myself," Pride told The Post while playing at Kingsport. "You have to have confidence to get where you want."
Pride played his first three seasons at Kingsport. He made single-A Columbia in 1990 and AA Binghamton in 1992. He moved to the Expos system and AAA Ottawa for 1993.
He then debuted in Montreal. He saw 10 games in September 1993, picking up four hits in nine at bats.
He returned to Montreal in 1995 and saw 48 games, then moved to the Tigers for 1996. That June, he used his speed to score the winning run against the Yankees, taking off for second and then coming all the way around with two outs in the ninth to score on a single.
"They gave me the steal sign and I had a real good jump," Pride told The Associated Press afterward. "I didn't see where the ball landed, but I said 'I'm going.' "
Pride got into a career high 95 games for the Tigers in 1996. He hit .300 with 10 home runs. He then saw another 79 in 1997, including two with the Red Sox.
He played 1998 with the Braves, 70 games, then nine games with the Red Sox in 2000 and 36 back with the Expos in 2001.
Pride finished out his career with four games with the Yankees in 2003, and then time with the Angels from 2004 to 2006, 35, 11 and 22 games.
Pride then turned coach, helming the Gallaudet University team from 2009 to the program's discontinuance in 2023.
- Union Springs Herald, Washington Post, July 30, 1986: Deaf Athlete Finds Success
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sept. 15, 1993: Expos' Prospect Views Deafness As No Handicap
- Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin, June 8, 1996: Pride of the Tigers races to defeat Yankees in 9th
Made the Majors:1,474-31.8%-X
Never Made Majors:3,167-68.2%