SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
Former Major League pitcher Tommy John has died. He was 83. He played for six teams over 26 seasons, but he will be best remembered for something that happened off the field. He was the first pitcher to undergo a procedure that's now named after him. Steve Futterman reports.
STEVE FUTTERMAN, BYLINE: Yesterday at Dodger Stadium, they paid tribute to Tommy John.
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UNIDENTIFIED ANNOUNCER: Join us for a moment of silence.
FUTTERMAN: It was during his time in Los Angeles in 1974 that Tommy John underwent an untested sports medicine procedure. John had torn his ulnar collateral ligament. In the past, that would have meant the end of a career. But one of the Dodger doctors, Frank Jobe, had an idea - take a tendon from the right forearm and put it in his injured left elbow. John talked to the MLB Network two years ago.
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TOMMY JOHN: I just wanted to play baseball. I wanted to pitch. And the only way I was going to pitch was to get the surgery from Dr. Jobe.
STEVE LOMBARDO: The game plan was logical, but it had never been tested on a thrower before. There was no tension or anything like that.
FUTTERMAN: Dr. Steve Lombardo was in the operating room where it happened.
LOMBARDO: Tommy knew it was a new - something that had never been done before.
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UNIDENTIFIED COMMENTATOR: And on the mound for the New York Yankees, the sinker-bowler Tommy John.
FUTTERMAN: Not only did he come back, Tommy John pitched in three World Series and won more than 160 additional games. Jocelyn Wittstein, a close friend of John, is an orthopedic surgeon and professor at Duke University.
JOCELYN WITTSTEIN: Every time I heard him speak of Dr. Jobe, he was just so grateful to him and truly attributed the second half of his career to Dr. Jobe's brilliance.
FUTTERMAN: Go down any Major League roster today - it's likely at least one pitcher has undergone Tommy John's surgery. In 2000, Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz thought his career might be over. Then he got a phone call.
JOHN SMOLTZ: He introduced himself. Of course, I knew who he was. But he said, don't give up. It was the call I needed, and I'm forever grateful for Tommy picking up the phone and giving me a call.
FUTTERMAN: Even with his long All-Star Major League career, Tommy John isn't a member of the Hall of Fame. But the Hall of Fame does have a display commemorating Tommy John's surgery and its impact on the game.
For NPR News, I'm Steve Futterman.
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