Tommy John, subject of revolutionary elbow surgery that changed baseball forever, dies at 83
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- Tommy John, the MLB left-hander whose name became synonymous with elbow ligament reconstruction surgery, has died at 83, his agent confirmed to CBS News.
- The New York Yankees released a statement mourning John, highlighting his consecutive 20-win seasons in pinstripes and calling him an "athletic and medical pioneer."
- John missed the Yankees' Old-Timers' Day celebration on Aug. 8 — one week before his death — and used the moment to release a farewell statement thanking Dr. Frank Jobe, saying his late father always called him "just Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana."
- Dr. Frank Jobe performed the experimental UCL replacement surgery in September 1974, after John felt his elbow give out mid-pitch on July 17 — Jobe later said "no one knew what to expect. We were making medical history."
- John returned in 1976 and pitched until age 46 in 1989, winning 164 games and throwing 2,544⅔ innings after his surgery — more than the 124 wins and 2,165⅔ innings he had accumulated before it.
- John retired with 288 career wins — the second-most in the Modern Era among non-Hall of Famers behind Roger Clemens' 355 — but was never inducted across 15 BBWAA ballot years (1995-2006) and five committee appearances.
- Tommy John surgery has since been refined and is performed on dozens of pitchers annually at both the professional and amateur levels, the source notes.
Why it matters: John's 288 career wins rank second-most in the Modern Era among pitchers outside the Hall of Fame, trailing only Roger Clemens — a striking omission given his 26 seasons and the procedure bearing his name has since saved countless subsequent careers.
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