The Yankee Stadium crowd let out a collective groan.

After 25 outs, Cleveland Indians shortstop Felix Fermin had just unloaded a bullet to deep centerfield — vying to end Yankee pitcher Jim Abbott’s shot at destiny.

This storybook event was over.

But New York centerfielder Bernie Williams had a different idea. He streaked across the outfield, chasing after the fly ball, and reached out to nab it as he crossed onto the warning track some 390 feet from home plate.

The crowd of 27,125 was no longer on the edge of its blue plastic seats — New York City was on its feet.

The Yankees’ veteran announcer Al Trautwig was watching Abbott — the most unlikely of heroes — making history in the Bronx, the Mecca of modern-day baseball.

Two outs in the ninth, as Bernie Williams tracked it down in left-centerfield. With this catch the fans are on their feet. Jim Abbott has a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth!

Abbott tugged on his cap and turned toward home plate to face his final Cleveland Indians batter, second baseman Carlos Baerga. After a first-pitch strike, he aimed a slider low and away from the left-handed hitter.

From that point, Trautwig’s voice, booming through televisions across the nation, told the rest of the story.

And a ground ball to short, Velarde. He did it! He did it! No-hitter for Jim Abbott! Jim Abbott throws a no-hitter and shuts out the Indians four to nothing. Mobbed by his teammates …

The Yankee faithful exploded.

Abbott stood on the mound with his arms raised high and throngs of his pinstriped teammates surrounded him. Catcher Matt Nokes gave his battery-mate a big hug.

That moment, becoming the eighth player in Yankee history to pitch a no-hitter, was the apex of Abbott’s trek to the major leagues during his 10-year career.

This historic moment had come directly on the heels of a horrendous outing only five days earlier against this same Cleveland ball club, pounding Abbott for seven runs on 10 hits in only 3.2 innings.

On this day, though, September 4, 1993, the New York lefty had dominated a lineup stocked with the likes of Baerga, Kenny Lofton, Albert Belle, and highly-touted rookie Manny Ramirez.

Overcoming adversity was a common theme in the life of Jim Abbott: just when everyone told him he couldn’t achieve a feat, Abbott accomplished it, and did it to near perfection.

But to adequately understand this man’s story, it’s best to revert back to the roots of Jim Abbott’s story.

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Abbott’s journey to perform on baseball’s biggest stage started rather normally, standing in the front yard with a ball, a glove and a dedicated father.

However, there was one glaring distinction between this kid and most other boys trying their luck at America’s favorite pastime.

Mike Abbott had a unique handicap to overcome while teaching his son to play catch: Jim was born with a normal left hand like most children, but lacked a right hand.

At the age of four, he received a prosthetic hook to compensate for his missing hand, but within weeks the toddler had ditched that option, rather satisfied with his one good arm.

No one ever expected this kid to ever step on a baseball diamond.

No one, that is, except this father and son.

An unprecedented dual-sport threat

Mike, an Anheuser-Busch salesman, and his wife Kathy, a local attorney, were determined to downplay his disability and give their son every chance to integrate normally into their community in Flint.

The pair went out and purchased a typical right-handed baseball mitt, and Mike set his plan into action.

Finding the perfect transition from throwing to catching didn’t come without taking a few baseballs to the face, but eventually he grew accustomed to his distinctive fielding routine.

His windup began with the glove resting on the right forearm, and as Abbott released the ball with the left hand, he would slip it into the mitt to assume his regular fielding position. Once he had fielded a batted ball, Abbott would tuck the glove under his right arm and extract the ball with his left hand to complete the play.

He would spend hours practicing this routine at home by bouncing a ball off a brick wall, making the switch, fielding and throwing again.

With time this transition became seamless.