A few weeks back, the Finalist assignment called for a Top Ten List. I wrote about the Top Ten sports months, ranking them July (10) to June (1). My refusal to mention racecar driving (except derisively) earned me zero #### points with the judges. So did my insistence on referring to jockeys as “midgets whipping horses.” Hey, I make no apologies; that’s just the way I roll.

And so is this:

I’ve now compiled a List of Ten Handi-capable Professional Athletes. (I say “handi-capable” because that’s what The Political Correctness dictionary calls them.) I came up with the names of these athletes off the top of my head, though I had to go back and research some of their backgrounds. For instance, “Three Finger” Brown….yeah, didn’t know off-hand (no pun intended) which one of his hands had only three digits.

The numbers next to the names don’t correspond to a list, per se, because who am I to say whose physical limitations were harder to overcome? I’m not in the business of ranking handi-capable people (and yes, that’s the last time I’ll use that term).

These athletes not only had to overcome their handicaps, but the rules and prejudices of the sports world, where the physically superior usually don’t like to admit that anyone less than perfect can or should compete with the stars.

Anyway, here are ten athletes who inspired awe. Again, in no particular order.

1.  Jim Abbott - Baseball player

A 1988 United States Olympian from the University of Michigan, Abbott was born without a right hand. That didn’t keep him from pitching in the major leagues for 11 seasons though. To field his position, Abbott mastered the skill of switching a right-handed fielder’s glove to his left hand, which he’d do immediately after throwing a pitch.

Talk about multi-tasking.

His best year was 1991, when he won 18 games for the California Angels, with a 2.89 ERA. But his career highlight was a 1993 no-hitter against the Indians, thrown as a member of the New York Yankees. In 23 career at-bats, he even managed two hits…with one hand.

2. Diana Golden-Brosnihan - Skier

A lot of para-Olympians deserve our admiration, but I’m familiar with Diana’s story, and that’s why I’m mentioning her here.

Diagnosed with cancer at a young age, Diana had her right leg amputated when she was 12 years old. A lifelong skier, she had to learn to ride on just one ski. People make a big deal about Bode Miller, who once completed a competition run on one ski. But Diane did it all the time.

In 1988, the year the Olympics first recognized disabled skiers, Diana won the gold medal in the slalom. She was named skier of the year by Skiing Magazine and several other skiing organizations that year. But her battle with cancer was ongoing, and in 1996 she was diagnosed with breast cancer, to which she succumbed several years later.

In December, she was posthumously elected to United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

3. Dummy Hoy - Baseball player

Boy, it sure would have been great to be handicapped back in the 19th-century, huh? No one thought twice about referring to William Ellsworth Hoy as “Dummy,” the first deaf player in baseball history.

According to dummyhoy.com (and no, that’s not a joke) Hoy led the National League in stolen bases (82) as a rookie in 1888; compiled 2,054 hits over his 14-year career, hitting .288; and hit the first grand slam in American League history. All the while, he couldn’t hear a thing. Given how sensitive major league players can be to the razzing of fans, I’m sure some would envy him this “trait.” Still, imagine how acute his other senses must have been to compensate for the fact he couldn’t hear on a baseball field. Hoy was actually responsible for the introduction of hand signals from umpires, which were used to greatest effect by Enrico Pallazzo in “Naked Gun.”

I say give Hoy a plaque in the Hall of Fame. He ranks in the top 20 in career stolen bases, and twice led the league in walks, stolen bases, and at-bats.

4.  Tom Dempsey - Field-goal kicker, New Orleans Saints

He had a withered right arm and a stump for a right foot, yet Dempsey still holds the record (with the Broncos Jason Elam) for longest field goal in NFL history -- 63 yards, set in 1970.

In high school, he played several sports, including wrestling, track, and football. Then, in college, he played defensive line. But it was in the NFL that he made the switch to place kicker, and started on the road to immortality.

Outfitted with a special shoe, which allowed him to swing his leg and drive the ball like a foos ball goalie, Dempsey caught on with the Saints in 1969. The following season he set the NFL field-goal record – breaking it by more than 7 yards!

Now in his 60s, Dempsey might have been able to help the Indianapolis Colts last weekend.

5. Pete Gray - Outfielder, St. Louis Browns, 1945

Gray was a one-armed outfielder who hit .218 in 1945, while most of the regular MLB players were serving in the Armed Forces. According to baseballlibrary.com, Gray lost his right arm in a childhood trucking accident. But that didn’t stop him from becoming a semi-pro standout in his home state of Pennsylvania.

“The naturally right-handed youngster learned to throw and bat from the opposite side. Batting with one arm, Gray sprayed line drives around the field. On the basepaths, he displayed speed and daring, and fielding was a study in agility and dexterity. After catching a fly ball, Gray would tuck his thinly padded glove under his stump, roll the ball across his chest, and throw, all in one fluid motion,” according baseballlibrary.com.

His one year in The Show was inau####ious, but during one doubleheader against the Yankees, Gray notched four hits, two runs, two ribbies, and nine outfield chances.

When servicemen returned to baseball after the war, Gray was sent back to the minors.

6. Vinny Testaverde - Quarterback

The 1986 Heisman Trophy Winner from the University of Miami, Testaverde was drafted #1 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he suffered for six years, throwing a mind-boggling 35 interceptions (to only 13 touchdowns) in 1988. Fans thought he was simply a knucklehead, but Testaverde claimed he was color blind and that he couldn’t tell the difference between the Bucs’ jerseys (orange) and those of the opponent. Naturally the fans and the press were very sympathetic: one radio station erected a billboard that said “Vinny thinks this is red.”

The sign was blue.

Testaverde finally left Tampa, moved on to Cleveland, Baltimore, and later the Jets, where in 1999 he led the team to the AFC Championship Game. Over the years, he somehow trained his eyes to differentiate between his team’s colors and those of the opponent.

This past season, after a stint in Dallas, he joined the Jets again, for his 19^th and final campaign. The kid from New York, who grew up idolizing Joe Namath, finished with a 35-26 record as the Jets starter, with more career touchdowns (269) than interceptions (261). Pretty impressive, especially when you consider Namath, who was not color blind, threw a lot more INTs (220) than touchdowns (173) in his Hall of Fame career.

7. Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown - Pitcher

Cubs fans who are over 110 years old certainly remember Mordecai – he hurled 11 scoreless innings in Chicago’s last World Series victory in 1908. The Hall of Fame right-hander, who won more than 25 games four times, lost the full use of three fingers in two farming accidents when he was little. According to cmgww.com, “At the age of 7, Brown was playing on his uncle's farm and got his right hand caught in a corn shredder. His index finger was amputated above the second knuckle, and his thumb and pinkie were both impaired permanently. While chasing a hog a few weeks later, he fell and broke the third and fourth fingers on the same hand, both of which healed unnaturally. This accident led to the distinctive nickname.”

The skinny on Brown is that his disability allowed him to put some mean action on his curve ball, which helps explain why he posted five consecutive seasons of sub-2.00 ERA.

8. Casey Martin - Golfer

Martin was born with a circulatory disorder that affected the flow of blood to his right leg, making it painful for him to walk. As such, he applied to the PGA for an exemption, asking that they permit him the use of a cart. But even so-called class acts like Jack Nicklaus got their Dickies in a bunch, saying the use of a cart gave Martin an unfair advantage on the course. Martin, who won an NCAA title with Tiger Woods at Stanford, was no slouch, mind you. He simply couldn’t walk long distances, unlike the other “athletes” on the PGA Tour.

So the PGA fought his application, which went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Citing the Americans with Disabilities Act, Martin finally won the case in 2001, earning the right to use a cart during competition. But, since no one else had earned that same right, half the fun of golf – crashing your cart into someone else’s cart – was rendered moot.

9. Curtis Pride - Modern-day outfielder

Pride has never been an everyday outfielder, but he’s forged a long-term career (bouncing between the majors and the minors) for his speed, versatility, and fielding ability.

“Deaf at birth from rubella, Pride developed #### skills early in his life and graduated from the College of William and Mary. He did not play baseball at college but was the starting point guard on the basketball team. He also was an excellent soccer player who played for the United States at the Under 17 World Championships in China (1985),” according to wikipedia.org.

He made his major-league debut in 1996, and that season received the Tony Conigliaro Award, which honors the MLB player who best overcomes adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination and courage.

10. Terry Fox - Runner

Fox, a Canadian, was diagnosed with cancer in 1977. Three years later, after losing a leg to the disease, he organized a run for charity called “Marathon for Hope,” as a means to raise money for cancer research.

I still remember watching his made-for-TV movie, in which friends drove along in a van behind him, while Canadians lined the route, cheering him on. Goosebumps, I tell you.

Outfitted with an artificial leg, Fox ran more than 3,300 miles in 140-plus days, averaging – averaging! – more than a marathon’s length per day.

Unfortunately, he never completed his coast-to-coast run across our neighbor to the north. The cancer spread to his lungs by September 1980 and Fox died eight months later, but not before serving as an inspiration to an entire country, if not the world.

(Note: I realize the majority of the athletes cited here were baseball players. It’s my favorite sport, so these names came readily to mind. No doubt there are many others – perhaps less famous, but no less important. Thanks, Crookdnose.)