08/17/2026
๐๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง, ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐จ๐ซ๐ฒ!
๐๐จ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ง๐จ๐ง๐ฒ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ง๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐ซ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐จ๐ฐ.
๐๐ฎ๐ญ, ๐ข๐ง ๐๐๐๐, ๐ก๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ก๐๐ซ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ซ.
In the middle of an excellent 1974 season the Dodgers were en route to their first NL pennant in eight years, with John leading the NL in wins.
On July 17, 1974, against the Montreal Expos, with the Dodgers leading 4โ0 in the third inning, John tried to throw a sinking fastball to Hal Breeden. Suddenly, he felt the "strangest sensation I had ever known...right at the point where I put force on the pitch, the point where my arm is back and bent, something happened," he explained. "It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else. It was as if my body continued to go forward and my left arm had just flown out to right field, independent of the rest of me."
Enter Dr. Frank Jobe, who had performed the surgery before on polio patients to increase mobility in their hands and wrists, but never on an athlete's elbow.
Jobe told John he had a 1 in 100 chance to pitch again, and, as every other athlete suffering this injury had to retire, John responded "Let's do it!"
After a year and a half of rehab, in 1976 John not only returned to pitch for the Dodgers, but the "Bionic Man" went on a tear, winning Comeback Player of the Year in 1976, winning 20 games in 1977, 1979 and 1980, and a total of 164 wins in 14 years post surgery, more than half of his career wins in a 26-year career.
Because of the surgery, John pitched until he was 46. His 26-year career is second in duration only to Nolan Ryan and Cap Ansonโs 27.
๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐ง ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐,๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ซ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ก๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฒ ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ, ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ ๐
๐๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ณ, ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ ๐ง๐๐ซ.
This also includes current MLB stars (and likely future Hall of Famers) Shohei Ohtani, Tarik Skubal, Chris Sale, Justin Verlander and Jacob DeGrom. Roughly 39% of all active Major League pitchers have undergone Tommy John surgery at least once in their career. That doesn't include the estimated tens of thousands of high school and college players who have had the surgery.
๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐, ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง'๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ, ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐๐ง. ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฌ ๐ก๐จ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ก๐ง ๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฒ, ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ฌ, ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ซ ๐๐จ๐๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐๐ฆ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ ๐๐ญ๐๐ฏ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฏ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ซ๐๐๐ญ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ง๐๐ก.
The cast features (30) signatures of teammates and coaches, as well as John's and Jobe's. It represents a landmark breakthrough in medicine that has impacted thousands of lives.
In 2013 the National Baseball Hall of Fame gave Jobe special recognition and an honor (but he has not been inducted) for his contribution to the sport.
So, with 288 wins, which is the seventh most by a left hander in MLB history (incuding 46 shutouts!), why isn't John in the Hall of Fame?
And, with groundbreaking surgery that extended the careers of so many MLB players, why isn't Jobe in the Hall of Fame?
John and Jobe's contributions should not be ๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ aside....
Tommy John (May 22, 1943-August 15, 2026)
