Passan: Why Tommy John's legacy will forever live on across baseball
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Tommy John died Saturday night at 83 following a 2024 bladder cancer diagnosis, finishing a 288-win, 26-season career spanning more than 4,710⅓ innings on the mound.
- Dr. Frank Jobe performed the first UCL reconstruction on John's left elbow on Sept. 25, 1974, using a palmaris longus tendon from John's wrist, and gave the procedure a 1-in-100 chance of working despite privately assessing 90% odds.
- John threw 166 of his 288 career wins and 2,544⅔ of his 4,710⅓ innings after the groundbreaking surgery, retiring in 1989 at 46, while the next seven players who underwent UCL reconstructions all failed to pitch in the majors.
- An estimated 40% of major league pitchers have undergone Tommy John surgery, with members of the club including John Smoltz, Justin Verlander, Chris Sale, Shohei Ohtani (two), Jacob deGrom (two), Tarik Skubal, Zack Wheeler, and Max Fried.
- Jobe named the surgery after John rather than himself because he credited the patient's diligence, and told John before the operation: 'Tommy, I don't know what I'm doing.'
- The Hall of Fame recognized Jobe for his contributions in 2013; Jobe died in early 2014, telling John during induction week: 'We did a little surgery, but the man did all the hard work.'
- Players have shortened the procedure's name to 'TJ,' making 'He needs TJ' among the most feared phrases in baseball.
Why it matters: John's death closes the final chapter on the most consequential medical innovation in baseball history: a procedure that has extended careers for an estimated 40% of today's major league pitchers and turned a single patient's name into a permanent fixture of the sport's daily vocabulary.
Ask SkimNews
