Over the weekend, the horrible news came out that Tommy John, a 26-year veteran pitcher with 288 wins and 62.1 rWAR during his career, had passed away. The news wasn't completely unexpected, as John had sent what amounted to a goodbye message in his explanation for why he could not attend the Yankees' Old-Timers Day on Saturday, but few thought the bad news would come so quickly for a player who, indirectly, had such an impact on every team in baseball, including the Atlanta Braves.
Aside from a long, illustrious career that included four All-Star appearances, John was best known for being the first pitcher to come back successfully from elbow ligament replacement surgery, which would then become known as "Tommy John surgery" even today. The surgery unquestionably saved John's career and countless others, including a ton of former and current Braves players who have John to thank for taking the leap and proving that the procedure could fix what was previously a career-threatening injury.
Tommy John's passing is a reminder of just how much the surgery that bears his name has changed Braves history
Like any major injury, Tommy John surgery does not have a 100% success rate, and one's odds of successfully staying in the big leagues go down significantly once you get to the second (or more) major elbow surgery, regardless of how good the surgeons are. However, Tommy John surgery has saved and/or prolonged so many careers that it is honestly hard to comprehend. Just take a look at this incomplete list of Braves pitchers who had Tommy John.
- Mike Bielecki - 1992
- Pedro Borbón - 1996
- Winston Abreu - 1997
- Damian Moss - 1997
- Odalis Pérez - 1999
- Kerry Ligtenberg - 1999
- John Smoltz - 2000
- Rudy Seánez - 2000
- Jo-Jo Reyes - 2004
- Jonny Venters - 2005, 2013, 2014
- John Foster - 2006
- Michael González - 2007
- Anthony Lerew - 2007
- Peter Moylan - 2008
- Tim Hudson - 2008
- Kris Medlen - 2010, 2014
- James Parr - 2010
- Arodys Vizcaíno - 2012
- Brandon Beachy - 2012, 2014
- Eric O'Flaherty - 2013
- Cory Gearrin - 2014
- Shae Simmons - 2015
- Brady Feigl - 2015
- A.J. Minter - 2015
- Jacob Webb - 2015
- Andrew McKirahan - 2016
- Grant Dayton - 2017
- Jacob Lindgren - 2018
- Spencer Strider - 2019 (in college)
- Spencer Schwellenbach - 2021
- Luke Jackson - 2022
- Daysbel Hernández - 2022
- Huascar Ynoa - 2022
- Tyler Matzek - 2022
- Ian Anderson - 2023
- Ray Kerr - 2024
- Danny Young - 2025
- AJ Smith-Shawver - 2025
Now, did all of those pitchers succeed upon their returns? Absolutely not, but a lot of them did. John Smoltz went on to forge a Hall of Fame career after his elbow went out in 2000. Hell, Jonny Venters somehow came back after his THIRD Tommy John. The Braves have several players on the roster right now who have had the procedure. It is commonplace in today's game for many pitchers (and some hitters) to have Tommy John at least once.
Now, it is important to note that while John was the pioneering patient, the doctors and surgeons involved along the way deserve a very large portion of the credit. Coming up with a procedure that has been THIS successful for as long as it has is basically a miracle. However, it was John who put his career on the line in having the procedure, and it's success paved the way for a lot of careers to be saved. We all owe John a lot for that, and we at House That Hank Built send our thoughts to his family and friends during what must be an unbelievably difficult time.
Thanks, Tommy...for everything.
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