I didn’t know Tommy John the person. I never had the honor of meeting him. But — I certainly know of Tommy John the baseball player — and I know he made a big impact on baseball
His impact is felt every single day — especially in this generation of baseball players. I hear stories of high school and college baseball players all that time that have already had Tommy John Surgery. I saw it in my nearly 20 years working in Minor League Baseball — all the players that were done for a season to undergo the surgery — only to come back better than ever.
Over the years, Tommy John Surgery has extended many careers. It has saved careers and also helped start careers.
In this day and age when everything is max effort and radar guns, Tommy John Surgery has been a game changer — an actual lifesaver to many.
That’s one reason why Tommy John belongs in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a pioneer.
Then, there’s his on-the-field career. Over the course of his 26 years on the mound in the majors, he accummulated 288 wins. Think about that for another moment. In a generation where starting pitchers don’t pitch long enough to earn wins — whether that be in a season or over their careers — 288 will never again be matched. In fact, if you think about it, how many more 200 game winners will we ever see?
Look at this list — the active MLB wins leaders. Once Verlander and Scherzer retire, which one of these pitchers below will come close to 288 wins? My guess is none.
| Rank | Player (yrs, age) | Wins | IP | Throws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Justin Verlander (21, 43) | 266 | 3571.1 | R |
| 2. | Max Scherzer (19, 41) | 222 | 3004.0 | R |
| 3. | Gerrit Cole (13, 35) | 159 | 2040.2 | R |
| 4. | Chris Sale (16, 37) | 157 | 2213.0 | L |
| 5. | Sonny Gray (14, 36) | 140 | 2050.2 | R |
| 6. | Zack Wheeler (12, 36) | 123 | 1843.2 | R |
| 7. | Kevin Gausman (14, 35) | 118 | 2050.0 | R |
| 8. | Michael Wacha (14, 34) | 116 | 1778.0 | R |
| 9. | Yu Darvish (13, 39) | 115 | 1778.0 | R |
| Jose Quintana (15, 37) | 115 | 2142.1 | L | |
| 11. | Patrick Corbin (14, 36) | 113 | 2127.2 | L |
| Aaron Nola (12, 33) | 113 | 1845.2 | R | |
| 13. | Carlos Carrasco (17, 39) | 112 | 1704.0 | R |
| Nathan Eovaldi (15, 36) | 112 | 1835.0 | R | |
| 15. | José Berríos (10, 32) | 108 | 1571.2 | R |
| 16. | Eduardo Rodríguez (11, 33) | 106 | 1454.0 | L |
| 17. | Jacob deGrom (13, 38) | 104 | 1660.1 | R |
| 18. | Dallas Keuchel (13, 38) | 103 | 1642.1 | L |
| 19. | Martín Pérez (15, 35) | 99 | 1738.0 | L |
| 20. | Robbie Ray (13, 34) | 98 | 1572.2 | L |
| 21. | Carlos Rodón (12, 33) | 97 | 1328.1 | L |
| 22. | Max Fried (10, 32) | 96 | 1166.0 | L |
| 23. | Luis Castillo (10, 33) | 88 | 1521.1 | R |
| Framber Valdez (9, 32) | 88 | 1213.2 | L | |
| 25. | Chris Bassitt (12, 37) | 87 | 1340.1 | R |
| 26. | Jameson Taillon (10, 34) | 84 | 1321.0 | R |
| 27. | Sean Manaea (11, 34) | 83 | 1356.0 | L |
| 28. | Blake Snell (11, 33) | 81 | 1167.0 | L |
| 29. | Taijuan Walker (14, 33) | 78 | 1300.2 | R |
| Logan Webb (8, 29) | 78 | 1201.1 | R | |
| 31. | Miles Mikolas (11, 37) | 75 | 1368.1 | R |
| Freddy Peralta (9, 30) | 75 | 1059.0 | R | |
| Luis Severino (11, 32) | 75 | 1134.2 | R | |
| 34. | Lucas Giolito (10, 31) | 73 | 1188.1 | R |
| Merrill Kelly (8, 37) | 73 | 1133.1 | R | |
| 36. | Dylan Cease (8, 30) | 72 | 1153.0 | R |
| Germán Márquez (11, 31) | 72 | 1199.1 | R | |
| 38. | Matt Moore (13, 37) | 71 | 1142.2 | L |
| 39. | Shane Bieber (9, 31) | 70 | 932.0 | R |
| Nick Pivetta (10, 33) | 70 | 1227.0 | R | |
| 41. | Kyle Freeland (10, 33) | 69 | 1381.0 | L |
| Zac Gallen (8, 30) | 69 | 1105.1 | R | |
| Seth Lugo (11, 36) | 69 | 1132.1 | R | |
| 44. | Matthew Boyd (12, 35) | 68 | 1173.0 | L |
| Zach Eflin (11, 32) | 68 | 1077.1 | R | |
| 46. | Jack Flaherty (10, 30) | 66 | 1077.0 | R |
| Marco Gonzales (11, 34) | 66 | 933.1 | L | |
| Joe Musgrove (9, 33) | 66 | 1056.0 | R | |
| 49. | Sandy Alcantara (9, 30) | 65 | 1246.0 | R |
| Steven Matz (12, 35) | 65 | 1068.2 | L |
As the National Baseball Hall of Fame continues to welcome in players that have been overlooked (Jim Kaat, Gil Hodges, Tony Oliva, Fred McGriff and Jeff Kent, to name a few) — how soon will Tommy John be enshrined? My guess is now that he has sadly passed away, his much-deserved election will come one day soon. He deserves to be there.
On a side note — working for the Charlotte Knights over the years — I heard many stories of Tommy John from my good friend, Matt Swierad. Matt and Tommy were broadcast partners. I’ve always admired Matt’s play-by-play work. He’s the best. I could just imagine all of the stories Tommy had to share on air and off air. I heard one time he brought a number of Yankees legends to Knights Stadium, including Whitey Ford and Catfish Hunter. As Director of Community Relations, he helped the Knights in the community. He even threw the occassional BP. Wow.
RIP, Tommy
