Tommy John, Former White Sox Player Who Made Baseball History, Dies At 83

Tommy John, who underwent the groundbreaking elbow surgery later named after him while pitching for the Dodgers, and who also played several seasons for the White Sox, died Saturday at the age of 83.

His agent, Mike Maguire, confirmed the death on Sunday to the Associated Press. John died at his home in Bradenton after spending time in hospice care.

“For 50 years his name is mentioned nearly everyday when people talk MLB,” Former Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said Sunday in a post on X.

“Tommy was a wonderful person who competed to the utmost and did what no player had ever done to save his career, in conjunction with the esteemed Dr. Frank Jobe.”

The left-hander was 31 years old when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow in 1974, a death knell for pitchers' careers to that point. John had a 13-3 record and led the National League in victories going into the All-Star break and was pitching against the Montreal Expos when he permanently damaged the UCL in his left arm. After a month, the injury had not improved.

John allowed Jobe, the Dodgers’ team physician, to replace the ligament with a tendon from his right forearm. Jobe gave the surgery 100-to-1 odds of being successful.

John was the first pitcher to have it done on his elbow.

During the four-hour surgery on Sept. 25, 1974, Jobe made holes in the humerus and ulna bones of John’s left arm and used anchors to insert the tendon in a figure-eight pattern.

At first, John’s left hand was shriveled and he lacked feeling in several of his fingers because of damage to the ulnar nerve. Jobe performed a second procedure to reroute the nerve that was necessary for John’s full recovery.

John won 124 games before his UCL repair and 164 after. His final appearance came days after his 46th birthday.

“Thanks to Dr. Jobe, who saved my arm & made it possible for me to continue pitching,” John wrote in a letter posted Aug. 8 on social media by the New York Yankees, the team John retired from more than a decade after the surgery.

“That surgery has since gone on to save the careers of countless pitchers, including many of the very best in the game today.”

'Tommy John From Terre Haute'

Born Thomas Edward John Jr. on May 22, 1943, in Terre Haute, Indiana, he was a top baseball and basketball player at the city’s Gerstmeyer High. He graduated in 1961 as valedictorian.

Despite being recruited by the University of Kentucky to play basketball, John chose baseball and signed with Cleveland.

“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,’” John wrote in the Aug. 8 letter. “I've never forgotten those words.”

John recorded 2,245 strikeouts but never led either league in wins or strikeouts. He had the second-most wins of any pitcher since 1900 not to be elected to the Hall of Fame. From 1995 through 2009, John was on the Hall of Fame ballot, but he never received more than 31.7 percent of the votes, falling well short of the 75 percent required for election.

John was a four-time All-Star with a record of 288-231 and a 3.34 ERA during a career that stretched from 1963 to 1989. He pitched for Cleveland, the White Sox, the Dodgers, the Yankees, the California Angels and the Oakland Athletics.

He played for the Sox from 1965 to 1971.

"The White Sox send our condolences to the family, friends and fans of 4x MLB All-Star Tommy John, who has passed away at 83," the team said Sunday in a social media post.

"John appeared in in 237 games (219 starts) over seven seasons with the White Sox from 1965-1971. He represented the White Sox at the 1968 All-Star Game."

John's Legacy

More than 2,600 big leaguers and thousands more amateurs have since had UCL reconstructions, better known as Tommy John surgery. It’s been a godsend for many of baseball’s greatest stars, including two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani, three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander and even Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper.

Over 50 years later, Tommy John surgery is as much a part of baseball as peanuts and hot dogs. Advanced training methods are helping pitchers of all ages throw harder than ever. They take comfort knowing a torn UCL won’t necessarily end their careers.

John’s oldest son, Tommy III, became a chiropractor who wrote a book suggesting ways to prevent young athletes from having to undergo major sports-related surgery similar to what his father endured.

“I am sick my name is attached to a surgery happening in kids more than pros,” John tweeted in July 2018.

After his pitching career ended, John worked as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins and Yankees in the 1990s. He managed the Bridgeport (Connecticut) Bluefish from 2007-09.

John and his wife Sally Simmons had four children: Tamara, Tommy III, Travis and Taylor, who died of a prescription drug overdose at 28 in 2010. The couple divorced in 2013.

Besides his children, he is survived by his second wife, Cheryl, and son-in-law Patrick Mannelly, a retired NFL long snapper who played 16 years for the Chicago Bears.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.