Tommy John and Dr. Frank Jobe
Orthopedic surgeon Dr, Frank Jobe passed away yesterday at the age of 88. As a distinguished surgeon, Dr. Jobe did many things, of course, but he will forever be remembered by baseball fans and players as the first surgeon to perform a tendon transplant to replace a torn ligament in the elbow of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Tommy John. This happened in 1974, and the procedure became forever known as "Tommy John surgery", and it has rescued the careers of countless major league baseball players, particularly pitchers.
Pittsburgh Pirates fans today can be grateful for the work begun by Dr. Jobe in the person of pitcher Charlie Morton, who had the surgery in 2012, and is being counted on heavily by the Pirates in 2014 and beyond. In fact, one can find a website devoted to all the MLB players who have had this surgery performed over the years.
http://mlbreports.com/tj-surgery/
It is a sad irony that Tommy John himself is better known today for the surgery that bears his name than for his career as a pitcher. Too bad, considering that his career spanned 26 seasons and totaled a record of 288-231 with a 3.34 ERA. He pitched in three World Series. Fourteen of those seasons and 164 of those wins came after he had Jobe's surgical procedure performed. He retired in 1988 at the age of 46.
Frank Jobe was honored by the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown in 2013 for his "contributions" to the game of baseball.
RIP Dr. Frank Jobe.
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