Tommy John
856885
226147983
2008-07-17T01:10:43Z
Milk's Favorite Bot
7074530
[[WP:MOS|Manual of style]]/other general fixes. (BOT)
{{Infobox MLB retired
|name=Tommy John
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Left
|birthdate={{birth date and age|1943|5|22}}<BR>[[Terre Haute, Indiana]]
|debutdate=[[September 6]]
|debutyear={{by|1963}}
|debutteam=[[Cleveland Indians]]
|finaldate=[[May 25]]
|finalyear={{by|1989}}
|finalteam=[[New York Yankees]]
|stat1label=[[Win-Loss record]]
|stat1value=288-231
|stat2label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat2value=3.34
|stat3label=[[Strikeout]]s
|stat3value=2,245
|teams=<nowiki></nowiki><!--This forces MediaWiki to recognize the first bullet. Kind of a workaround to a bug.-->
* [[Cleveland Indians]] ({{by|1963}}-{{by|1964}})
* [[Chicago White Sox]] ({{by|1965}}-{{by|1971}})
* [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] ({{by|1972}}-{{by|1974}}, {{by|1976}}-{{by|1978}})
* [[New York Yankees]] ({{by|1979}}-{{by|1982}}, {{by|1986}}-{{by|1989}})
* [[Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim|California Angels]] ({{by|1982}}-{{by|1985}})
* [[Oakland Athletics]] ({{by|1985}})
|highlights=<nowiki></nowiki>
* 4x [[MLB All-Star Game|All-Star]] selection (1968, 1978, 1979, 1980)
* 1981 [[Lou Gehrig Memorial Award]]
* 1976 [[Hutch Award]]
* 1976 [[NL Comeback Player of the Year]]
}}
'''Thomas Edward John Jr.''' (born [[May 22]] [[1943]] in [[Terre Haute, Indiana]]) is a former left-handed [[pitcher]] in [[Major League Baseball]] whose 288 career [[win (baseball)|victories]] rank as the 6th highest total among lefthanders in major league history. He is also known for the revolutionary [[Tommy John Surgery|surgery]], now named after him, which was performed on a damaged [[ligament]] in his pitching arm.
==Playing career==
An outstanding basketball player at Gerstmeyer High School in [[Terre Haute]], where he held the city single game scoring record, Tommy John was originally signed by the [[Cleveland Indians]], getting his major league start in {{by|1963}}. Of his 26-year major league career, he is best remembered for his seasons with the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]] in the 1970s. He made appearances in the [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All-Star Game]] in {{by|1968}}, {{by|1978}}, {{by|1979}}, and {{by|1980}}. He played in all three Yankees vs. Dodgers [[World Series]] of his era ([[1977 World Series|1977]], [[1978 World Series|1978]] and [[1981 World Series|1981]]), but was on the losing end of all three, having switched over to the Yankees by the time the Dodgers took the Series in '81. John never played on a major league championship team.
In the middle of the {{by|1974}} season, John was cruising along with a 13-3 record as the Dodgers were en route to their first National League pennant in eight years, before he permanently damaged the [[ulnar collateral ligament (elbow)|ulnar collateral ligament]] in his pitching arm, leading to a revolutionary surgical operation. This operation, now known as [[Tommy John surgery]], replaced the ligament in the elbow of his pitching arm with a tendon from his right forearm. The surgery was performed by Dr. [[Frank Jobe]] on [[September 25]] [[1974]], and although it seemed unlikely he would ever be able to pitch again, he spent the entire {{by|1975}} season in recovery and returned to the Dodgers in {{by|1976}}. His 10-10 record that year was considered "miraculous" but John went on to pitch until {{by|1989}}, winning 164 games after his surgery—one fewer game than all-time great [[Sandy Koufax]] won in his entire career. How many games John would have won had he been healthy in 1974 and 1975 is speculative but it is likely he easily would have surpassed 300. After [[Phil Niekro]]'s retirement, John spent {{by|1988}} and 1989 as the oldest player in the major leagues. Today, many pitchers have Tommy John surgery during their careers.
Still, he decided it was time to retire in 1989, when [[Mark McGwire]] got two hits off him. McGwire's father was TJ's [[dentist]]. John said, "When your dentist's kid starts hitting you, it's time to retire!"
==Managerial career==
On Dec. 17, 2006, John was named manager of the [[Bridgeport Bluefish]] in the [[Atlantic League]], an independent minor league in the Northeast.
==Broadcasting career==
John did commentary on select games during [[WPIX]]'s final year of broadcasting Yankee baseball in 1998. He also guest hosted the [[Mike and Mike]] [[ESPN Radio]] program on June 26, 2008. It is unknown whether he will do any further work for the network.
==Personal life==
Tommy married the former Sally Simmons on July 13, 1970. They are parents of four children (Tamara, Tommy III, Travis, and Taylor).
==Career statistics==
{| border="1" cellpadding="2"
|[[Win (baseball)|W]]
|[[Win (baseball)|L]]
|PCT
|[[Earned run average|ERA]]
|[[Games played|G]]
|[[Games started|GS]]
|[[Complete games|CG]]
|[[Shutout|SHO]]
|[[Save (sport)|SV]]
|[[Innings pitched|IP]]
|[[Hit (baseball)|H]]
|[[Earned run|ER]]
|[[Run (baseball)|R]]
|[[Home run|HR]]
|[[Base on balls|BB]]
|[[Strikeout|SO]]
|[[Wild pitch|WP]]
|[[Hit by pitch|HBP]]
|-
|288
|231
|.555
|3.34
|760
|700
|162
|46
|4
|4710.3
|4783
|1749
|2017
|302
|1259
|2245
|187
|98
|}
==Bibliography==
*''The Tommy John Story'', F.H. Revell Company, 1978. ISBN 0-8007-0923-3. (With [[Sally John]] and [[Joe Musser]], foreword by [[Tommy Lasorda]].)
*''The Sally and Tommy John Story: Our Life in Baseball'', Macmillan, 1983. ISBN 0-02-559260-2. (With Sally John.)
*''TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball'', Bantam, 1991. ISBN 0-553-07184-X. (With [[Dan Valenti]].)
==See also==
* [[Tommy John surgery]]
* [[Top 100 winning pitchers of all time|Winningest pitchers of all time]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins]]
* [[MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List]]
* [[Top 100 strikeout pitchers of all time]]
* [[Chicago White Sox all-time roster]]
==External links==
*{{baseballstats|br=j/johnto01 |fangraphs=1006515 |cube=J/tommy-john}}
* [http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/johnto01.php The Baseball Page]
*[http://www.tommyjohn.net]
{{start box}}
{{succession box | before = [[Davey Johnson]] | title = [[Player of the Month|National League Player of the Month]]| years = April, 1974| after = [[Ralph Garr]]}}
{{succession box | before = [[Randy Jones (baseball player)|Randy Jones]] | title = [[MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award|NL Comeback Player of the Year]]| years = 1976| after = [[Willie McCovey]]}}
{{succession box | before = [[Tony Perez]] | title = [[Lou Gehrig Memorial Award]] | years = 1981 | after = [[Ron Cey]]}}
{{end box}}
{{NL Comeback Players of the Year}}
{{Lou Gehrig Memorial Award}}
{{Hutch Award}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Tommy}}
[[Category:Major league pitchers]]
[[Category:California Angels players]]
[[Category:Chicago White Sox players]]
[[Category:Cleveland Indians players]]
[[Category:Los Angeles Dodgers players]]
[[Category:New York Yankees players]]
[[Category:Oakland Athletics players]]
[[Category:American League All-Stars]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:Major league players from Indiana]]
[[Category:1943 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Terre Haute, Indiana]]
[[Category:Indiana State University alumni]]
[[ja:トミー・ジョン]]