Tommy John, the longtime Major League pitcher whose name became synonymous with the groundbreaking elbow surgery that transformed baseball, has died at 83 after battling bladder cancer for some time.
Originally signed by Cleveland, John made a brief major league appearance before being dealt to the Chicago White Sox in a three-team trade.
He spent six seasons with Chicago, posting more than 5.0 bWAR in three straight seasons from 1968 through 1970. Following the 1971 campaign, the White Sox traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for Dick Allen.
John quickly established himself as a dependable member of the Dodgers’ rotation, spending three seasons with the club. He led the National League in winning percentage in both 1973 and 1974, but his 1974 campaign was cut short by a torn ulnar collateral ligament.
With his career seemingly in jeopardy, John agreed to an experimental procedure in September 1974. Dr. Frank Jobe reconstructed his damaged UCL using a tendon taken from John’s forearm—the first such surgery ever performed on a pitcher.
Against the odds, John returned to the mound in 1976, and the procedure that saved his career soon became known worldwide as “Tommy John surgery.” He went on to pitch for another 14 seasons after the operation, finishing second in NL Cy Young voting in 1977, reaching the World Series with the Dodgers in 1978, and again placing second in Cy Young voting in 1979 after joining the New York Yankees.
John ultimately finished his remarkable career with 288 victories and 61.6 career bWAR, ranking 58th all time among major league pitchers.
His legacy, however, extends far beyond his statistics, as the surgery that bears his name has become one of the most significant medical developments in the history of professional baseball.
