MLB

Tommy John conflicted about surgery’s new dictionary status

By
Kirsten Fleming
Published April 26, 2019
Updated April 26, 2019, 3:17 p.m. ET

Baseball fans will wince when they see Merriam-Webster’s newest addition: “Tommy John surgery.”

The groundbreaking orthopedic procedure is named after former Dodgers and Yankees pitcher Tommy John, who has conflicted feelings about the recognition.

“In one way, it’s very flattering,” John tells The Post. “It’s better to have an orthopedic surgery than a venereal disease named after you. But in another way, how did this surgery get so rampant that it became this commonplace?”

Now defined in the dictionary as “a surgical procedure in which a torn ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow is replaced with a tendon graft typically obtained from a superficial muscle of the forearm,” it was performed by Dr. Frank Jobe on John in 1974.

The intricate operation would become transformative because it allowed pitchers to add longevity to their careers. At the time, John was 31 and well into his major league tenure.

Tommy John of the New York Yankees pitches in a Major League Baseball game against the Oakland Athletics played on May 18, 1989 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. Tommy John was 46 years old at the time.
Tommy John in action at a New York Yankees vs. Oakland Athletics game in 1986. He was 46 at the time.Getty Images

“I couldn’t pitch anymore, and I wanted to pitch and make a living playing baseball. If I didn’t have the surgery, I wouldn’t have been able to continue playing the game.”

But it’s become increasingly common in youth sports. Young athletes are specializing in one sport and joining year-round travel teams, causing unnecessary-overuse injuries to balloon to epidemic proportions.

According to a 2015 study, 15-to-19-year-olds accounted for 56.7% of Tommy John surgeries. John says that stat alone shows a breakdown in our culture of youth sports.

LA QUINTA, CA - APRIL 28: Tommy John, the 4 time All Star Major League Baseball pitcher who won 288 games, shows the famous scar on his elbow in La Quinta, CA on April 28, 2018. John and his son Tommy John III, a chiropractor with a sports medicine background, are trying to put an end to kids getting Tommy John surgery, the elbow operation that saved John's pitching career and now bears his name. In 1974, when he was 31, John had already pitched 12 years in the major leagues when Dr. Frank Jobe performed the landmark ulnar collateral ligament elbow surgery. He went on to pitch 14 more years and never missed a start. His message now is simple: Dont cut on kids. Kids, the Johns say, are being pressured into overperforming, causing degenerative joint problems. They are overstimulated, less aware, overcoached, and underdeveloped. (Photo by Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Tommy John had his landmark surgery in 1974 when he was 31.Boston Globe via Getty Images

“A lot of parents think, ‘I want my son to be the next Clayton Kershaw or Jacob deGrom, and I want him to have the surgery to play harder.’ Parents are living their lives vicariously through their children,” says the 75-year-old.

“Take specialization out and let them play. When we were done in August, we would put away the baseballs and play basketball until the winter was over.”

Reshaping the approach to youth sports has become a family affair. John’s son, Dr. Tommy John, has written “Minimize Injury, Maximize Performance: A Sports Parent’s Survival Guide” which, among other things, advocates for young athletes and parents to buck the latest trends of early specialization.

“Parents are being sold a bill of goods about travel teams and if they play on them, they’ll be scouted. Kids should be able to play the game and have fun.”