It's not often a player can be credited with saving the careers of thousands of players who followed him or ensured that a select few of those would go on to earn hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to his courage.
Yet Tommy John, in conjunction with orthopedist Frank Jobe, did just that for generations of pitchers.
John died Saturday, Aug. 15 at the age of 83, his 288-win career almost a footnote in the grand scope of his life. He served as patient No. 1 for the surgery that would eventually bear his name is among the most significant off-field impacts a player can make.
When he agreed to let Jobe replace the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow in 1974, it was a journey into the unknown at the intersection of sports and medicine. Nowadays, the surgical scar and the established protocols for recovery, regaining strength and eventually returning to the mound are well-established and even more evolved.
Yet all that was foreign to Jobe and John. And you could fill up a wing of the Hall of Fame with those who have benefited.
#john #player #established #frank
Yet Tommy John, in conjunction with orthopedist Frank Jobe, did just that for generations of pitchers.
John died Saturday, Aug. 15 at the age of 83, his 288-win career almost a footnote in the grand scope of his life. He served as patient No. 1 for the surgery that would eventually bear his name is among the most significant off-field impacts a player can make.
When he agreed to let Jobe replace the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow in 1974, it was a journey into the unknown at the intersection of sports and medicine. Nowadays, the surgical scar and the established protocols for recovery, regaining strength and eventually returning to the mound are well-established and even more evolved.
Yet all that was foreign to Jobe and John. And you could fill up a wing of the Hall of Fame with those who have benefited.
#john #player #established #frank
2 months ago
