Tommy John, Yankees Legend Who Had Surgery Named After Him, Dies

Thomas “Tommy” John, a four-time MLB All-Star who won 288 career games over 26 years in professional baseball, has died, his agent confirmed to CBS News. He was 83.

John died at his home in Florida on Saturday, surrounded by his wife, Cheryl, and other family members, his agent Mike Maguire said in a statement.

His biggest legacy to the game came in 1974 when he suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament, which could have ended his career. Instead, John underwent an experimental elbow reconstruction procedure by Dr. Frank Jobe, which is now known as the “Tommy John surgery.”

After his surgery, John went on to win 164 more games, finishing his career with 288 victories, more than 2,200 strikeouts and a 3.34 ERA before retiring in 1989.

Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, John signed with the Cleveland Indians, now the Cleveland Guardians, at the age of 18 after impressing the team with his curveball. After three seasons in the minor leagues, he was called up to the majors for the first time in 1963. From there, he went on to play for the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, California Angels (now the Los Angeles Angels), Oakland Athletics and the New York Yankees.

John was a four-time All-Star, earning selections in 1968, 1978, 1979 and 1989.

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We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tommy John, a veteran of 26 MLB seasons who helped revolutionize recovery from pitching injuries in the 1970s.

John broke in with Cleveland as a 20-year-old in 1963 and made his last appearance for the Yankees at age 46 in 1989, also… pic.twitter.com/z4bB9I31vL

— MLB (@MLB) August 16, 2026

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The Hall of Fame remembers Tommy John, who passed away Saturday at the age of 83.

John won 288 games over his 26-year career, and the UCL surgery that bears his name extended countless careers – including his own.

He was honored at the 2013 Awards Presentation in Cooperstown. pic.twitter.com/1cPwm2rX4r

— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

(@baseballhall) August 16, 2026

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John’s MLB career began with a short stint in Cleveland in 1963 before he was traded to the Chicago White Sox before the 1965 campaign. He was playing on the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974 when a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow blew his season.

Dr. Frank Jobe, the team’s doctor at the time, performed a surgery to replace the ligament with a tendon from elsewhere in his body. The procedure had never been performed before and was revolutionary at the time.

That surgery is now named after the pitcher, who became known as the “Bionic Man” following a thrilling return from what should have been a career-ending injury.

John told The New York Times in 1977 that he spent the entire 1975 season rebuilding strength in his arm. He worked with team trainer Bill Buhler, soaked his arm and even squeezed Silly Putty to help regain his strength.

“I put together three of those Silly Putty eggs,” John said. “Bill Buhler told me that Silly Putty was better than a rubber ball because I could squeeze all the way through it.”

It would be two years before John would finally return to the Dodgers rotation, making 31 starts and managing two shutouts in his 1976 comeback season.

He recorded the first of his three 20-win seasons in 1977, helping the Dodgers to the National League pennant that year.

He had another solid year in 1978, as L.A. won another NL flag, before signing a free agent deal that ensuing winter to join the Yankees, who had beaten the Dodgers in consecutive World Series.

John went on to pitch for another 14 years after his injury, playing with the Los Angeles Angels, the Oakland A’s and the Yankees once again before his retirement in 1989.

He won 288 games in his 26-year career and recorded 2,245 strikeouts. But John never won the coveted Cy Young Award, a distinction given every year to the MLB’s best pitcher that season.

Even without the accolade, John was one of the best-known pitchers in all of baseball thanks to the surgery that bears his name.

Some of the sport’s most celebrated modern pitchers have had the procedure, including Shohei Ohtani, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Jacob deGrom.

Cole only just returned to play for the Yankees this season after having the surgery. He expressed gratitude to John after the Yankees won on Aug. 8, according to MLB.com.

“The surgery itself is saving us, but the player had to step up to the table and do it,” Cole said. “Having gone through the process, I can imagine that he was just as diligent — if not more diligent — to the rehab process, and really writing the book for all of us, to a certain extent.”

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RIP Tommy John. The procedure would be called Frank Jobe Surgery, after the doctor who performed it, but it was such a long-shot that it would work, the doctor was happy for it to be named for the patient instead, so his name wouldn’t forever be associated with it if it did fail. https://t.co/Er6u3vRUO6

— Yankees Stonewall Pride (@pride_yankees) August 16, 2026

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