LOS ANGELES — Tommy John, the Major League Baseball pitcher who underwent a pioneering elbow surgery that later saved the careers of countless pitchers, has died at the age of 83.
The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers were two of John's former clubs offering condolences after he died at his home in Bradenton, Florida, where he had received hospice care after a recurrence of bladder cancer.
"We are saddened to hear the news of Tommy John's passing today," Dodgers president Stan Kasten said in a statement.
"Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can't be overstated.
"His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come."
Current Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is just one of the MLB pitchers who has undergone Tommy John elbow ligament reconstruction surgery.
The procedure has also saved the careers of Tarik Skubal, Justin Verlander and Chris Sale.
John was pitching for the Dodgers on July 17, 1974, when he threw a fastball and felt what he called a "crash" in his left elbow.
The injury was a career-threatening tear to his ulnar collateral ligament.
Treatment with ice and rest failed, and Dodgers team doctor Frank Jobe performed a then revolutionary procedure on September 25, 1974 in which he harvested a tendon from John's right forearm and attached it to bones in his left elbow.
John required a second procedure to repair nerve damage, but after missing all of 1975 he beat 1-in-100 odds to return to the mound, going 10-10 with a 3.09 earned-run-average in 31 starts for the Dodgers in 1976.
Dubbed the "Bionic Man," John would finish second in National League Cy Young Award voting in 1977, building a 20-7 record to help the Dodgers claim the NL pennant.
