Tommy John

Former pitcher; eponym of the operation

What does your scar look like?

Nothing like the scars of today. Mine is long, very thin, and you can hardly see it.

You were the first one to have the operation. How much did Dr. Jobe explain about what he was going to do?

He explained everything. It wasn’t like a doctor to a patient. It was like a father to a son. He explained things and asked if I understood. If I didn’t, then he would explain it in a little clearer terms. He might be one of the most caring people I’ve ever been around in my life. He was concerned that if I had the surgery, and it probably wouldn’t work, was I going to have the means to support my family? Because my wife was due with our daughter. She was born two days after the surgery. And his thing was, “Are you going to have the means to support your family?” I go, “Yeah, I got a fallback.” He said, “O.K., I don’t want you to think you’re going to go into this and you’re going to come right back out and be as good as new.” He said, “More than likely, it will probably fail.”

Did he explain why the scar looked the way it did?

Nope. I never asked him. See, he operated on me in 1972. I had torn the flexor mass off the elbow in ’72, last game of the season. He operated on me. Then in 1974, he operated on me using the same scar. And I asked him why he used the same scar. He was like: “It’s kind of like taking a trip. If you find a good route and there’s good food on the way, you tend to go the same way.”

When you originally injured the ligament, was it on one pitch?

It was July 17. I was pitching against Montreal. I threw one pitch in maybe the third, fourth inning, and I’m like, “Oh, God!” The pain was excruciating. And I threw one more pitch, and it was excruciating again. I called time, and I walked off. And I told Walt Alston. I said: “Get somebody in, Walter. I think I’ve hurt my arm, and I hurt it bad.” I got to the bench, and I tell our trainer, Bill Buhler. I said, “Billy, get Dr. Jobe; something’s wrong.”

Are you surprised the operation is so common now?

No. The worst thing you can do in the world is pitch 12 months a year. The best pitchers in baseball don’t pitch 12 months a year. So if the best pitchers in baseball, which are major league pitchers, if they don’t pitch 12 months a year, why should some kid 8, 9, 10, 11 years old who can’t walk and chew gum at the same time? Why should he do that? You’ve got to rest your body. And what we’re seeing now, all these guys having the surgery, it’s the tidal wave of these kids who have been doing year-round baseball for all these years.