Tommy John, the left-handed pitcher whose 1974 ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction gave its common name to "Tommy John surgery," died Saturday at 83, the Dodgers announced. John ruptured the ligament on a July night in 1974 while pitching to Hal Breeden of the Montreal Expos and agreed to a then-radical operation by Dodgers orthopedist Dr. Frank Jobe that revived his career. John won 124 games in his first 12 seasons and 164 more in 14 seasons after the surgery, finishing with a 288-231 record and a 3.34 ERA and retiring at 46. With the Dodgers he went 87-42 with a 2.97 ERA and helped them reach consecutive World Series; the surgery that he underwent in Los Angeles has since prolonged hundreds of pitchers’ careers, from Tom Candiotti and John Smoltz to Shohei Ohtani. "Dr. Jobe made it so I could throw a baseball again," John told the Los Angeles Times in 2023. Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten said John’s "courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated" and that his impact "has been felt by ballplayers of all ages".
