Curtis John Pride (born December 17, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder who is deaf. He batted left-handed and threw right-handed. In 2015, Pride was named MLB's Ambassador For Inclusion. Since 2009 Pride has served as the head baseball coach at Gallaudet University. Youth Deaf at birth from rubella, Pride developed oral skills early in his life and graduated from John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. He excelled in baseball, basketball, and soccer in high school. After high school, Curtis Pride attended the College of William and Mary. He was the starting point guard on the basketball team. He also was an excellent soccer player who played for the United States at the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship in China and scored two goals in the tournament, including the match winner against Bolivia. He was named one of the top 15 youth prospects in the world for that year and was a 1986 Parade Magazine High School All American soccer player. Pride uses his 5% residual hearing to help him speak and is a fluent lip-reader. Career Pride was originally signed by the New York Mets, but reached the major leagues with the Montreal Expos in 1993. At that time, he became the first deaf player in the majors since Dick Sipek in 1945. A left-handed hitter, with good plate discipline, and considerable speed, he never played regularly in the majors. Instead, he pinch hit or played in the outfield, usually left or right, as an injury replacement, and is regarded as an excellent fielder with a strong arm. His first Major League hit was September 17, 1993 in Montreal. Pride's first four hits in his major league career were a double, triple, home run, and single. Pride became a free agent before the 1996 season and signed with the Detroit Tigers, where he played well in a part-time outfield role. With fewer than 300 plate appearances in 95 games, he compiled career-high numbers in batting average (.300), home runs (10), RBI (31), runs (52), hits (80), doubles (17) triples (5), and stolen bases (11). He was expected to gain more at bats in future seasons as a result. But 1997 found him on the disabled list and he was released and signed by the Red Sox. After that, he played with the Braves, returned to Boston and Montreal, and saw a little action with