Young people may not know that the surgery is named after major league pitcher Tommy John who had a fine career before and after the operation. I recommend the 30 for 30 short. John and Dr. Frank Jobe, who did the operation, really didn’t know what would happen when he pitched again.
On this day in 1974, in a revolutionary surgical operation, Dr. Frank Jobe repaired Tommy John's damaged UCL. The procedure, now known as Tommy John surgery, gave the southpaw, who was unlikely to ever be able to pitch again, an opportunity to post an additional 164 victories
— Baseball Reference (@baseball_ref) September 26, 2021
30 for 30 Shorts: Tommy and Frank
Happy 79th Birthday to Tommy John! After his revolutionary surgery in 1974 at age 31, Tommy won 164 more games, made three All-Star teams and was the NL Cy Young runner-up in '77. pic.twitter.com/znW0flHvsT
— 1974 Baseball Tweets (@1974Baseball) May 22, 2022
Tommy John Surgery list from @MLBPlayerAnalys
2x Tommy John club among active MLB pitchers that have made it back (via @MLBPlayerAnalys's TJ database):
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) August 23, 2022
Daniel Hudson
Cole Sulser
Nathan Eovaldi
Pete Fairbanks
Drew Rasmussen
Anderson Espinoza
Cole Ragans
Matt Bush
Jameson Taillon
Caleb Ferguson
Mike Clevinger
Kirby Yates https://t.co/p0CbTRIzyT
Percentage of pitchers used in MLB who have had Tommy John surgery (excluding position players pitching), by season:
— Jon Roegele (@MLBPlayerAnalys) December 14, 2022
2016: 26.4% (190 different pitchers)
2017: 25.0% (183)
2018: 27.1% (202)
2019: 29.8% (230)
2020: 30.8% (220)
2021: 30.5% (260)
2022: 34.0% (274)
Percentage of MLB pitchers* who have had Tommy John surgery, by season:
— Jon Roegele (@MLBPlayerAnalys) October 16, 2023
2016: 27.4%
2017: 25.9%
2018: 28.5%
2019: 30.8%
2020: 32.0%
2021: 32.0%
2022: 34.4%
2023: 35.3%
* pitchers who pitched in MLB or spent entire season on MLB IL, not including position players pitching
Love this uni-stirrup-color combo! Tommy John @whitesox toiled on the South Side from 1965 to '71, going 82-80, with a 2.95 ERA (117 ERA+) and twice led the AL in shutouts. Is he a Hall of Famer? Won 288 in career, logged 4710.1 IP. His @sabr bio https://t.co/e3lmQrQGra pic.twitter.com/Y9U2zZEAH5
— SABR BioProject (@SABRbioproject) December 17, 2022
The bad news, Orioles fans: "sprains are tears" (@injuryexpert ©️). And reading an MRI can be far more art than science. To understand why a diagnosis can change after imaging, I went in an MRI tube and had the images evaluated last summer: https://t.co/RmXaROMcd6
— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) February 16, 2024
Tendon transfers had been used before, but they’d never been used in a baseball application. When Dr. Frank Jobe devised the procedure, he was up front with Tommy John about its chances of success.
— Jim Koenigsberger (@Jimfrombaseball) May 8, 2024
“Probably one in 100.”
But, said Dr. Jobe, “if you don’t have the surgery, you’ll… pic.twitter.com/4cjvQ66QG3
Blows my mind. pic.twitter.com/1GB2NxHPpY
— Baseball’s Greatest Moments (@BBGreatMoments) August 10, 2024
Sad! 