Tommy John, Pitcher Who Gave His Name to Career-Saving Surgery, Dies at 83
New York Times · LC · trust 30/100
Tommy John pitching in July 1974, weeks before he tore the ulnar collateral ligament on the inside of his left elbow. Credit... Diamond Images/Getty Images Skip to content Skip to site index
After tearing an elbow ligament, he underwent a risky procedure and returned at his best, changing baseball and giving new hope to injured players.
Tommy John pitching in July 1974, weeks before he tore the ulnar collateral ligament on the inside of his left elbow. Credit... Diamond Images/Getty Images
Tommy John, a canny left-handed pitcher who won nearly 300 major-league games, more than half of them after recovering from the innovative, often career-saving elbow surgery that came to be known by his name, died on Saturday at his home in Lakewood Ranch, Fla. He was 83.
The cause was bladder cancer, his wife, Cheryl John, said.
John pitched for 26 seasons; only Nolan Ryan lasted longer in the big leagues in the modern era. At the height of his success — and after his recovery from the risky surgery — he won 37 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1977 to 1978 and then 43 for the New York Yankees from 1979 to 1980, for a cumulative four-year record of 80-35.
A four-time All-Star who played in three World Series (though he was never on a championship team) and three times led the American League in shutouts, John won 288 games overall — the second-largest total for any pitcher not in the Hall of Fame, and more wins than many who are in the hall.
A four-time All-Star who played in three World Series over a 26-season career, John won 288 games overall — the largest total for any pitcher not in the Hall of Fame. Credit... Major League Baseball, via Getty Images In 1974, the year that derailed his career — and, it can fairly be said, changed baseball — John was in his 12th major-league season and his third with the Dodgers. It was in Los Angeles that John had come into his own. Unlike his previous teams, the Dodgers had no qualms about the relative lack of juice on his fastball and urged him to rely on it. In his first two seasons with the team, he went 27-12, and at the All-Star break in 1974 he was 13-3, the best record in the National League.
On July 17, however, in the third inning of a game against the Montreal Expos, John threw a pitch to a hitter named Hal Breeden.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Read the original at New York Times →
Open in TruthVane →