Tommy John, the Major League Baseball pitcher who achieved 288 victories across a 26-year career, has died at the age of 83. His agent, Mike Maguire, confirmed on Sunday that John passed away on Saturday night at his home in Bradenton, Florida, where he was under hospice care.
John became the first player to successfully return to pitching after undergoing revolutionary elbow surgery in 1974, a procedure later named in his honour. At 31, he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm, an injury that typically ended pitchers' careers.
Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers team physician, performed the operation, replacing the damaged ligament with a tendon from John's right forearm. Despite Dr. Jobe calculating only a 100-to-1 chance of success, John went on to pitch for an additional 14 seasons after the procedure. He had previously shared a social media post on August 8, bidding farewell to friends and supporters.