Baseball icon Tommy John announced his departure from public life, thanking the late doctor who innovated a surgery which bears the lefty’s name and has saved “the careers of countless pitchers, including many of the very best in the game today.”
John, who disclosed in 2024 that he was being treated for bladder cancer, declined to attend Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium on Saturday and instead issued a “goodbye” statement through the team. The Yankees said he was dealing with “health issues” at his home in Florida.
“I want to thank the Yankees organization & the Steinbrenner family for giving me this opportunity to say goodbye to everyone, along with all the friends & fans who followed me throughout my 26-year career,” according to the statement by the 83-year-old.
John pitched in parts of 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989, amassing 288 wins (26th most in baseball history) and more than 4,710 innings pitched (20th).
But he’ll best be known for overcoming a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow, suffered in 1974.
That damage had been career-ending injury until the late orthopedic surgeon Dr. Frank Jobe swung for the fences with a radical new procedure that’s commonplace today — using a tendon harvested from somewhere else in the patient’s body to replace the torn UCL.
In John’s case, that spare part came from his right wrist. And after taking the 1975 season off to recover and rehabilitate, John came back with a strong 1976 season before winning at least 20 games in three of the next four campaigns.
“Thanks to Dr. Jobe, who saved my arm & made it possible for me to continue pitching,” John said in his statement. “That surgery has since gone on to save the careers of countless pitchers, including many of the very best in the game today.”
The procedure has become so common, the word “surgery” is often dropped in baseball parlance. A player could say he’s “having Tommy John” and those in the game would know exactly what that meant.
Some of modern baseball’s greatest pitchers, such as Justin Verlander, Shohei Ohtani, Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale, have had this surgery.
John’s career included stints with the Yankees, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels, Oakland A’s and Cleveland Indians.
“The day I left for my first job as a pitcher, my father looked at me & said, ‘Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: whether you make it big in the big leagues or you don’t, you’ll always just be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana.”
“I’ve never forgotten those words. Thank you & God Bless.”
