Tommy John

Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22 1943 in Terre Haute, Indiana) is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball whose 288 career victories rank as the 8th highest total among lefthanders in major league history. He is also known for the revolutionary surgery, now named after him, which was performed on a damaged ligament in his pitching arm.

Playing career[]

An outstanding basketball player at Gerstmeyer High School in Terre Haute, where he held the city single game scoring record, Tommy John was originally signed by the Cleveland Indians, getting his major league start in 1963. Of his 26-year major league career, he is best remembered for his seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1970s. He made appearances in the All-Star Game in 1968, 1978, 1979, and 1980. He played in all three Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series of his era (1977, 1978 and 1981), but was on the losing end of all three, having switched over to the Yankees by the time the Dodgers took the Series in 1981. John never played on a major league championship team.

In the middle of the 1974 season, John was a bitch crusing along with a 13-3 record as the Dodgers were en route to their first National League pennant in eight years, before he permanently damaged the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm, leading to a revolutionary surgical operation. This operation, now known as Tommy John surgery, replaced the ligament in the elbow of his pitching arm with a tendon from his right forearm. The surgery was performed by Dr. Frank Jobe on September 25, 1974, and although it seemed unlikely he would ever be able to pitch again, he spent the entire 1975 season in recovery and returned to the Dodgers in 1976. His 10-10 record that year was considered "miraculous" but John went on to pitch until 1989, winning 164 games after his surgery—one fewer game than all-time great Sandy Koufax won in his entire career. After Phil Niekro's retirement, John spent 1988 and 1989 as the oldest player in the major leagues. Today, many pitchers have Tommy John surgery during their careers.

Still, he decided it was time to retire in 1989, when Mark McGwire got two hits off him. McGwire's father was John's dentist. John said of his decision, "When your dentist's kid starts hitting you, it's time to retire!"

Managerial career[]

On December 17, 2006, John was named manager of the Bridgeport Bluefish in the Atlantic League, an independent minor league in the Northeast.

Broadcasting career[]

John did commentary on select games during WPIX's final year of broadcasting Yankee baseball in 1998. He also guest hosted the Mike and Mike ESPN Radio program on June 26, 2008. It is unknown whether he will do any further work for the network.

Personal life[]

Tommy married the former Sally Simmons on July 13, 1970. They are parents of four children (Tamara, Tommy III, Travis, and Taylor).

Career statistics[]

W	L	PCT	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	R	HR	BB	SO	WP	HBP
288	231	.555	3.34	760	700	162	46	4	4710.3	4783	1749	2017	302	1259	2245	187	98

Bibliography[]

The Tommy John Story, F.H. Revell Company, 1978. ISBN 0-8007-0923-3. (With Sally John and Joe Musser, foreword by Tommy Lasorda.)
The Sally and Tommy John Story: Our Life in Baseball, Macmillan, 1983. ISBN 0-02-559260-2. (With Sally John.)
TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball, Bantam, 1991. ISBN 0-553-07184-X. (With Dan Valenti.)

External links[]

Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
The Baseball Page
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Preceded by: Davey Johnson	National League Player of the Month April, 1974	Succeeded by: Ralph Garr
Preceded by: Randy Jones	NL Comeback Player of the Year 1976	Succeeded by: Willie McCovey
Preceded by: Tony Perez	Lou Gehrig Memorial Award 1981	Succeeded by: Ron Cey