WEBVTT - "RIP Tommy John"

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<v Speaker 1>Cortes Delivery.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome to Dodger Blue dream I'm your host, Richard Parks.

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<v Speaker 1>The third.

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<v Speaker 2>Good Day to you, Dodger Blue Dreamers. It is Monday,

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<v Speaker 2>August seventeenth, twenty twenty six. The Dodgers are in first

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<v Speaker 2>place in the NL West with a record of seventy

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<v Speaker 2>four and fifty one. That's a five ninety two winning percentage.

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<v Speaker 2>Over our last ten games, we have won five and

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<v Speaker 2>lost five, including the last two in a row and

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<v Speaker 2>three of the last four, all of which we played

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<v Speaker 2>against the NL Central leaders, the owners of the best

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<v Speaker 2>record in the National League, and the team that is

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<v Speaker 2>looking like the best team in baseball right now, though

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<v Speaker 2>they lack the star power and pedigree of the Dodgers.

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<v Speaker 2>The Milwaukee Brewers just took three of four from US

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<v Speaker 2>at home in a series that was supposed to be

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<v Speaker 2>a head to head matchup of the two Titans of

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<v Speaker 2>the National League, but certainly throughout the entire game on

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<v Speaker 2>Sunday at Dodger Stadium, which I attended, looked way more

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<v Speaker 2>mismatched than that. And it feels like we're hitting a

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<v Speaker 2>low point of the season, and so I wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>rush this episode out to kind of bottle that feeling

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<v Speaker 2>because it is one that we have not experienced so

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<v Speaker 2>much on this show, seeing as every year that I've

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<v Speaker 2>made this show, the Dodgers have won the World Series,

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<v Speaker 2>and I wanted to rush the show out today because

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<v Speaker 2>over the weekend we heard of the passing of Tommy John.

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<v Speaker 2>Even if you don't know who Tommy John is, if

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<v Speaker 2>you follow baseball, you probably know his name because of

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<v Speaker 2>what is known as Tommy John's surgery, as surgery that

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<v Speaker 2>repairs ligament in the elbow that is very commonplace, especially

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<v Speaker 2>for major league pitchers who put so much strain on

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<v Speaker 2>their pitching elbows that they commonly get this surgery to

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<v Speaker 2>repair an injury that otherwise would end their careers. And

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<v Speaker 2>historically this injury had always ended careers until a man

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<v Speaker 2>named Tommy John came around and as a pitcher for

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<v Speaker 2>the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventies, John was essentially

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<v Speaker 2>a guinea pig for this surgery pioneered by Dodgers' team

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<v Speaker 2>doctor Frank job and after ten years in the big leagues,

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<v Speaker 2>Tommy John took a year off to recover and rehab

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<v Speaker 2>from this experimental at the time surgery, and he went

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<v Speaker 2>on to play another fifteen amazing seasons and a mass

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<v Speaker 2>honestly Hall of Fame worthy career totals. So even though

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<v Speaker 2>Tommy John's name is well known, he doesn't so often

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<v Speaker 2>get his due as a player and as a person.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's what we're going to try to give him

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<v Speaker 2>today on the show. But first I'll take you now

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<v Speaker 2>to Dodger Stadium, Chavezravine on Sunday, August sixteenth, where the

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<v Speaker 2>Dodgers are facing off against the Milwaukee Brewers, with yours

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<v Speaker 2>truly in attendance. Sometimes the high point of a ballgame

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<v Speaker 2>is that moment of anticipation just before it starts. By

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<v Speaker 2>the bottom of the ninth, with the Dodgers down to

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<v Speaker 2>their last out, things had gotten weird.

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<v Speaker 1>One more so quiet, So rarely this quay a short

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<v Speaker 1>in the game.

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<v Speaker 2>This is the sound of the low point of the

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<v Speaker 2>Dodgers season. The sound of clapping you heard was from

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<v Speaker 2>a rare Brewers fan a few rows in front of me,

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<v Speaker 2>wearing a Jacob Misery ski jersey. Throughout this game, which

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<v Speaker 2>I sat in attendance for and kept score dutifully throughout

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<v Speaker 2>all painful twenty seven outs for the Dodgers. It looked

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<v Speaker 2>like the Brewers were the best team in baseball, and

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<v Speaker 2>it looked like the Dodgers were lost, deflated, bats were

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<v Speaker 2>ice cold. Derek Scoubele was not his best and fans

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<v Speaker 2>are making way too much of that right now because

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<v Speaker 2>he pitched really well six innings, one earned run. It

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<v Speaker 2>took him a career high in pitches to get there,

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<v Speaker 2>which perhaps is its own issue that he slash we

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<v Speaker 2>needed all of that to get there, and that we

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<v Speaker 2>allowed him to empty the tank like that in the

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<v Speaker 2>middle of August.

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<v Speaker 1>But the point is it wasn't enough.

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<v Speaker 2>And the mood at the ballpark on Sunday was very palpably,

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<v Speaker 2>distinctly familiar of a team that has lost its way.

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<v Speaker 2>I know we're in first place, but it does not

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<v Speaker 2>feel like it right now, and if you start looking

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<v Speaker 2>at the underlying stats, they illustrate what I'm talking about.

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<v Speaker 1>We just have not been.

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<v Speaker 2>Hitting this murderer's row of MVP's silver sluggers, the biggest names,

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<v Speaker 2>the best paid players in today's game. We only had

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<v Speaker 2>one base runner and a single run on a Max

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<v Speaker 2>Munsely home run, Max who got to ten years' service

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<v Speaker 2>time in the major leagues on Sunday congratulations Funky Munsey.

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<v Speaker 2>Rare silver lining here, but against a rookie, I think,

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<v Speaker 2>a pitcher I've never heard of Logan Henderson. We weren't

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<v Speaker 2>able to get men on or much lessoned a scoring position.

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<v Speaker 2>This guy was just mowing us down. And he didn't

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<v Speaker 2>need to max out his pitch count or reach a

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<v Speaker 2>career high to go seven innings allowing just that one run,

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<v Speaker 2>three measly hits, all of which I had a great

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<v Speaker 2>view of from a last minute deal that I got

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<v Speaker 2>on a seat in a party box up the third

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<v Speaker 2>baseline loge level, which I shared with about a half

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<v Speaker 2>dozen other fans. It's a weird feeling right now until

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<v Speaker 2>now about the eighth inning. All right, now, all of

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<v Speaker 2>my party box mates have left. I'm the only one

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<v Speaker 2>in the party box, which is nice, but I wish

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<v Speaker 2>it was under different circumstances.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess team does not look alive.

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<v Speaker 2>And as the stadium emptied out and the desperation grew,

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<v Speaker 2>oh Tucker Catin and Kyle Tucker lost the sixty million

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<v Speaker 2>dollar fly ball in the sun and Tommy Edmund committed

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<v Speaker 2>his second error of the day, and the Brewers tacked

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<v Speaker 2>on more insurance runs. So they didn't even have to

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<v Speaker 2>bring in their closer. I sat there keeping score, listening

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<v Speaker 2>with one ear on my transistor radio, which I explained

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<v Speaker 2>to inquisitive younger fans was not a cassette player. No,

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<v Speaker 2>and yes, you get the broadcast on this thing. And anyway,

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<v Speaker 2>I sat there feeling very experienced, long in the tooth,

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<v Speaker 2>a guy who can remember when it used to feel

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<v Speaker 2>like this a lot more And it always feels like

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<v Speaker 2>this at some point during the season. But this got heavy,

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<v Speaker 2>and I realize we haven't really had to get into

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<v Speaker 2>this type of feeling too much on this podcast because

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<v Speaker 2>I started it at the beginning of the twenty twenty

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<v Speaker 2>four season, and since then things have been pretty rosy.

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<v Speaker 2>But yesterday at the ballpark they were anything.

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<v Speaker 1>But I've had it with this dump.

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<v Speaker 3>We got no food, we got no jobs, our pets

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<v Speaker 3>head have fought.

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<v Speaker 2>I feel like Jim Carrey and dumb and Dummer.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, just calm down.

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<v Speaker 4>What the heck are we doing here, Harry?

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<v Speaker 1>We gotta get out of this town.

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, and go Where where are we gonna go?

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<v Speaker 2>Where do we go from here? I'll tell you where,

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<v Speaker 2>someplace warm, a place where the home runs fly high

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<v Speaker 2>through the thin mountain air.

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<v Speaker 4>A place where the beer flows like wine.

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<v Speaker 2>Where even the weakest of offenses have seen turnarounds. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>a place where beautiful women instinctively flocked like the salmon

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<v Speaker 2>of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called or

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<v Speaker 2>chorus Field, more like Colorado.

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<v Speaker 3>I don't know, Lloyd the frenchip.

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<v Speaker 2>The Dodgers kick off a three game series against the

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<v Speaker 2>last place Rockies in the most hitter friendly ballpark on

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<v Speaker 2>God's green Earth, chorus Field, tonight, Monday, August seventeenth, And

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<v Speaker 2>let's hope this is where we can find a spark

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<v Speaker 2>that will light the fire under this murderer's row of

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<v Speaker 2>an offense and turn our season around and head straight

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<v Speaker 2>through the mountain sky to a three peat. Coming up

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<v Speaker 2>after a short break, Tommy John, the former Dodger and

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<v Speaker 2>veteran baseball player of twenty six Major League Baseball seasons,

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<v Speaker 2>passed away on Saturday at the age of eighty three.

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<v Speaker 2>Tommy John reached legendary status in his lifetime, and even

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<v Speaker 2>if you're just a casual baseball fan, you've probably heard

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<v Speaker 2>his name, but she might not know much about him.

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<v Speaker 2>That's going to change right here, right now on Dodger

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<v Speaker 2>Blue Dream after a short break, stay tuned, Welcome back,

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<v Speaker 2>Thank you for being here, Thank you for listening to

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<v Speaker 2>Dodger Blue Dream. If you are new, please subscribe follow

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<v Speaker 2>check out our back catalog for portraits of many of

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<v Speaker 2>the current Dodger players and to get contexts on what's

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<v Speaker 2>going on during this historic, dynastic run.

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<v Speaker 1>For the Dodgers.

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<v Speaker 2>And if you like the show, please take a moment

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<v Speaker 2>to rate and review. We're still just a few ratings

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<v Speaker 2>shy of our goal of two hundred on Apple Podcasts.

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<v Speaker 2>Our goal is to get there this week, So please

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<v Speaker 2>take a moment and smash that button today.

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<v Speaker 1>Now.

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<v Speaker 2>Tommy John, a pitcher who compiled two hundred and eighty

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<v Speaker 2>eight victories over a twenty six year Major League baseball

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<v Speaker 2>career and who gave his name to the most significant

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<v Speaker 2>medical procedure in temporary baseball, died on Saturday at his

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<v Speaker 2>home in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, at the age of eighty three.

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<v Speaker 2>The cause of death was bladder cancer. According to The

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<v Speaker 2>New York Times, people in the Dodgers community, especially those

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<v Speaker 2>who go way back, are morning his passing. He was

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<v Speaker 2>a great baseball player. It sounds like he was a

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<v Speaker 2>wonderful person. And even if you only just kind of

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<v Speaker 2>casually follow baseball, you know the name Tommy John because

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<v Speaker 2>of what is called Tommy John surgery, which is a

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<v Speaker 2>procedure that can save a pitcher's arm and give a

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<v Speaker 2>picture second life. Tommy John was the first one to

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<v Speaker 2>have this now famous and very commonplace procedure back in

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<v Speaker 2>the seventies and these days with the emphasis on high

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<v Speaker 2>velocity that prevails from youth baseball on up through the

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<v Speaker 2>major leagues. Roughly speaking, between thirty and forty five percent

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<v Speaker 2>of all Major League baseball pitchers have had this procedure.

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<v Speaker 2>But even if you know the name Tommy John Tommy

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<v Speaker 2>John surgery, you might not know much about Tommy John.

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<v Speaker 2>But he was a very significant player, very significant Dodger.

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<v Speaker 2>So let's get into that a little bit. And also

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<v Speaker 2>let's break down just what exactly Tommy John surgery is,

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<v Speaker 2>because even if you talk about it and hear about

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<v Speaker 2>it all the time, you might not know exactly what

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<v Speaker 2>the procedure does. And it's a major surgery. Not only

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<v Speaker 2>is it something that saves a player literally from having

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<v Speaker 2>to retire, but it also means that you have to

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<v Speaker 2>take pretty much a full year off of doing any baseball,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's wrapped up in this bigger story that's essentially

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<v Speaker 2>an epidemic of arm injuries that's reaching a tipping point

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<v Speaker 2>and an era of high velocity pitching that maybe has

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<v Speaker 2>gone past the point of what is possible for the

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<v Speaker 2>human body, and we'll have to correct itself somehow. Anyway,

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<v Speaker 2>Tommy John, as I said, a very significant player. Let's

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<v Speaker 2>just start with two hundred and eighty eight career wins.

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<v Speaker 2>That's more games than Bob Gibson won. That's more games

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<v Speaker 2>than Jim Palmer, one more than Jan Marischal. He was

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<v Speaker 2>a four time All Star. He played in three World Series,

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<v Speaker 2>although he never won a ring because he was on

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<v Speaker 2>the Dodgers for basically all of the seventies. So he

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<v Speaker 2>went to the World Series in nineteen seventy seven and

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen seventy eight with the Dodgers, but lost both times

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<v Speaker 2>to the New York Yankees during one of the New

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<v Speaker 2>York Yankees back to back World Series win seasons. And

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<v Speaker 2>then he left the Dodgers and went to the Yankees,

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<v Speaker 2>and so his third World Series appearance was in nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>eighty one, but he was on the Yankees against the

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<v Speaker 2>Dodgers team that won it all, but Tommy John's career

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<v Speaker 2>goes back way farther than that. He debuted in nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>sixty three for the Cleveland Indians. He also played for

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<v Speaker 2>the Chicago White Sox in the American League, and he

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<v Speaker 2>had almost a decade of experience in the big leagues

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<v Speaker 2>when he joined the Dodgers in nineteen seventy two. Walter

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<v Speaker 2>Alston was still manager of the Dodgers in nineteen seventy two.

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<v Speaker 2>It was the first year that players' names appeared on

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<v Speaker 2>the backs of their uniforms. Morey Wills played shorts up,

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<v Speaker 2>Bill Buckner was at first, Willie Davis was in center,

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<v Speaker 2>Frank Robinson was in right, and Don Sutton went nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>and nine with a two point eight ERA. Tommy John

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<v Speaker 2>was the fourth starter in a rotation that also included

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<v Speaker 2>Claude Ostein, who won twenty games that year, and Al Downing.

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<v Speaker 2>Tommy John went eleven and five with one hundred and

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<v Speaker 2>eighty six innings pitched and a two point eight nine

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<v Speaker 2>er in his first season with the Dodgers in seventy two,

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<v Speaker 2>though his season ended prematurely in late September when he

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<v Speaker 2>suffered an injury. Sliding into home back when pitchers would

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<v Speaker 2>hit and run the bases, John was called out at

0:17:45.640 --> 0:17:49.879
<v Speaker 2>the plate and he jammed his throwing elbow in the process,

0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:51.800
<v Speaker 2>dislodging bone chips.

0:17:52.160 --> 0:17:54.160
<v Speaker 1>He had to have surgery that off.

0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:58.000
<v Speaker 2>Season to clean up his elbow, albeit not the famous

0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.719
<v Speaker 2>surgery that would happen a couple of years later with

0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:06.000
<v Speaker 2>the same physician, Dodgers team doctor Frank job. In nineteen

0:18:06.080 --> 0:18:11.240
<v Speaker 2>seventy three, John went sixteen and seven in two hundred

0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:16.399
<v Speaker 2>and eighteen innings of work. John won his final five

0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:21.800
<v Speaker 2>decisions that year, and sixteen wins was a career high,

0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:26.639
<v Speaker 2>and with that he had completed ten full big league seasons,

0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:32.720
<v Speaker 2>a totally decent major league career, absolutely above average, and

0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.640
<v Speaker 2>John was still just thirty years old. As the nineteen

0:18:36.800 --> 0:18:41.240
<v Speaker 2>seventy four season got underway, with John the number two

0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:47.479
<v Speaker 2>starter in the Dodgers rotation behind Don Sutton, Richard Nixon

0:18:47.600 --> 0:18:50.719
<v Speaker 2>was in the White House and on the radio it

0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:54.800
<v Speaker 2>was Gordon, Lightfoot, Abba and cool in the Gang.

0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:01.880
<v Speaker 1>It was John's year.

0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.160
<v Speaker 2>He threw a shutout against the Padres in his first

0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.439
<v Speaker 2>start on April sixth, and then four days later he

0:19:08.520 --> 0:19:11.840
<v Speaker 2>went eight shutty against the Atlanta Braves in the same

0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:15.840
<v Speaker 2>series that Hank Aaron passed Babe Bruce's all time home

0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.520
<v Speaker 2>run record. By the All Star break in seventy four,

0:19:19.920 --> 0:19:23.320
<v Speaker 2>the Dodgers were in first place in the NL West.

0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:27.920
<v Speaker 2>This was a Dodgers team that featured Ron Say, Steve Garvey,

0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:33.800
<v Speaker 2>Bill Russell, Bavy Lopes, Bill Buckner, and John was their ace.

0:19:34.320 --> 0:19:39.800
<v Speaker 2>The Los Angeles Dodgers Southpaw had a thirteen and three record.

0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.840
<v Speaker 2>Tommy John was well on his way to his first

0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:50.960
<v Speaker 2>twenty win season when he took the mound on July seventeenth,

0:19:51.240 --> 0:19:55.280
<v Speaker 2>nineteen seventy four, at Dodgers Stadium in a game against

0:19:55.280 --> 0:20:00.719
<v Speaker 2>the Montreal Expos. John's thirteen victories led the NAT League.

0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:06.359
<v Speaker 3>And we're playing the Montreal Expos, and actually I had

0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:07.880
<v Speaker 3>a ford to nothing lead.

0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.040
<v Speaker 2>That's the voice of Tommy John as he took the

0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:13.080
<v Speaker 2>mound for the top of the third inning that day.

0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:17.960
<v Speaker 2>John didn't know that what would unfold next would change

0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:22.680
<v Speaker 2>his life and live in the annals of baseball history forever.

0:20:25.400 --> 0:20:29.360
<v Speaker 2>We'll get into the rest of Tommy John's spectacular story

0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:53.040
<v Speaker 2>after a short break. Stay with us, Welcome back to

0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:53.560
<v Speaker 2>the show.

0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:54.840
<v Speaker 1>Today.

0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:58.840
<v Speaker 2>We're telling the story of Tommy John, the longtime Los

0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:02.639
<v Speaker 2>Angeles Dodgers left handed pitcher who gave his name to

0:21:02.760 --> 0:21:06.600
<v Speaker 2>a surgery that can save a pitcher's career from ending,

0:21:06.840 --> 0:21:10.640
<v Speaker 2>which at present, more than thirty percent of all active

0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:15.320
<v Speaker 2>Major League pitchers have undergone. John died this past Saturday

0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.080
<v Speaker 2>at the age of eighty three from bladder cancer.

0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:21.520
<v Speaker 1>When we left off, it was July.

0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:28.879
<v Speaker 2>Seventeenth, nineteen seventy four, at Dodger Stadium, and just after

0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:32.879
<v Speaker 2>the All Star Break, John was thirteen and three, on

0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:35.520
<v Speaker 2>his way to what was sure to be his best

0:21:35.520 --> 0:21:39.320
<v Speaker 2>season ever. In this game, John and the Dodgers had

0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:42.600
<v Speaker 2>a four run lead. It was the third inning against

0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:43.920
<v Speaker 2>the Expos, and.

0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.840
<v Speaker 3>We're playing the Montreal Expos, and actually I had a

0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:50.840
<v Speaker 3>ford to nothing lead the Expos.

0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:53.879
<v Speaker 2>Willie Davis led off the inning with a single and

0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:55.040
<v Speaker 2>then Bob.

0:21:54.880 --> 0:21:56.159
<v Speaker 1>Bailey worked a walk.

0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:01.200
<v Speaker 2>After throwing two pitches to Hal Breden, the Expos number

0:22:01.280 --> 0:22:05.760
<v Speaker 2>five hitter, John felt a sudden, excruciating pain in his

0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:20.320
<v Speaker 2>left elbow, his pitching arm. According to an article on

0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:24.080
<v Speaker 2>MLB dot com, John flexed his elbow back and forth,

0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:26.920
<v Speaker 2>then through another pitch.

0:22:28.600 --> 0:22:31.480
<v Speaker 3>And right as I got oh I'd say, halfway through

0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:35.880
<v Speaker 3>the pitch, I felt this banging sound in my elbow

0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:37.480
<v Speaker 3>and this sharp pain.

0:22:39.359 --> 0:22:41.800
<v Speaker 2>John called time and walked off the mound.

0:22:42.400 --> 0:22:45.120
<v Speaker 4>Tommy John had ripped a critical ligament in his elbow.

0:22:45.480 --> 0:22:49.160
<v Speaker 2>The strangest sensation I had ever known. John would say

0:22:49.200 --> 0:22:52.520
<v Speaker 2>in an interview later on, as if my body continued

0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:55.280
<v Speaker 2>to go forward and my left arm had just flown

0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:57.800
<v Speaker 2>out to right field and dependent of the rest of me,

0:22:59.600 --> 0:23:05.639
<v Speaker 2>John had torn his ulner collateral ligament, his ucl A

0:23:05.760 --> 0:23:09.520
<v Speaker 2>career ending injury for a major league player.

0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:14.359
<v Speaker 4>No picture had ever returned from this injury. Injury, injury, injury, injury.

0:23:15.320 --> 0:23:22.320
<v Speaker 2>During think of the ucl AS like a rubber band

0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:26.240
<v Speaker 2>that connects the upper arm bone to the forearm bone.

0:23:27.040 --> 0:23:33.040
<v Speaker 2>Repeated overarm pitching motions obviously put strain on the ucl

0:23:33.520 --> 0:23:37.359
<v Speaker 2>The rubber band keeps getting stretched, and over time it

0:23:37.440 --> 0:23:41.200
<v Speaker 2>wears it down. The rubber band tears and breaks. This

0:23:41.280 --> 0:23:44.439
<v Speaker 2>is what had happened to John on that pitch, And

0:23:44.520 --> 0:23:46.760
<v Speaker 2>what do you do with the torn rubber band?

0:23:47.480 --> 0:23:52.160
<v Speaker 4>No pitcher had ever returned from this injury injury injury, injury, injury, indury.

0:23:52.440 --> 0:23:56.480
<v Speaker 2>You throw it in the trash. In nineteen seventy four,

0:23:56.880 --> 0:24:01.119
<v Speaker 2>a UCL tear was pretty much guaranteed to end a

0:24:01.160 --> 0:24:05.639
<v Speaker 2>major league baseball player's career. John was thirty one years old.

0:24:06.240 --> 0:24:08.880
<v Speaker 2>He had been in the big leagues for a decade already.

0:24:09.080 --> 0:24:11.960
<v Speaker 2>It seemed like it was probably time to hang him up.

0:24:12.400 --> 0:24:15.240
<v Speaker 4>Unless a new approach was needed.

0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:18.240
<v Speaker 1>Enter Frank Job.

0:24:19.720 --> 0:24:20.520
<v Speaker 5>How are you good?

0:24:20.640 --> 0:24:24.400
<v Speaker 4>In Los Angeles, Tommy John visits the surgeon who treated him,

0:24:24.680 --> 0:24:25.600
<v Speaker 4>Doctor Frank Job.

0:24:26.480 --> 0:24:31.840
<v Speaker 2>In nineteen seventy four, the Dodgers team. Doctor Job suggested

0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:37.679
<v Speaker 2>something something crazy, a surgery never attempted before for a

0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:42.480
<v Speaker 2>ballplayer to replace the torn UCL tendon in John's elbow.

0:24:43.040 --> 0:24:47.320
<v Speaker 6>Procedure that we decided on when Tommy injured his arm

0:24:47.400 --> 0:24:52.360
<v Speaker 6>when the LGAMIN was ruptured was to make some attempt

0:24:52.400 --> 0:24:57.600
<v Speaker 6>to replace it with another structure, a.

0:24:57.560 --> 0:25:01.879
<v Speaker 2>New rubber band that had never been tried before. The

0:25:02.000 --> 0:25:05.480
<v Speaker 2>chances that it would work, Job told John were one

0:25:05.840 --> 0:25:09.600
<v Speaker 2>in one hundred, and he could not guarantee that John

0:25:09.640 --> 0:25:11.119
<v Speaker 2>would ever pitch again.

0:25:12.960 --> 0:25:16.880
<v Speaker 6>I told Tommy that we were running a pretty big

0:25:17.000 --> 0:25:20.080
<v Speaker 6>risk that he would not ever pitch again.

0:25:21.240 --> 0:25:27.040
<v Speaker 2>John agreed, and in September nineteen seventy four, Frank Job

0:25:27.320 --> 0:25:32.200
<v Speaker 2>performed the first ever UCL replacement surgery on a baseball

0:25:32.240 --> 0:25:37.160
<v Speaker 2>player Tommy John. They could have called it Frank Job,

0:25:38.359 --> 0:25:44.720
<v Speaker 2>but they didn't. Anyway, Here's what they did that day,

0:25:47.200 --> 0:25:52.200
<v Speaker 2>placing John under general anesthesia. Job first harvested attendant from

0:25:52.320 --> 0:25:56.119
<v Speaker 2>John's wrist a small piece of tissue roughly six inches

0:25:56.160 --> 0:26:00.560
<v Speaker 2>in length, then made a small incision on the inside

0:26:00.640 --> 0:26:06.199
<v Speaker 2>of John's left elbow. He removed the damaged UCL and

0:26:06.240 --> 0:26:11.040
<v Speaker 2>then drilled holes into John's left forearm and his upper

0:26:11.160 --> 0:26:15.200
<v Speaker 2>arm bones just on either side of the elbow. Job

0:26:15.359 --> 0:26:19.200
<v Speaker 2>inserted the tendon from John's wrist through the drilled holes

0:26:19.520 --> 0:26:23.000
<v Speaker 2>and wrapped it in a figure eight design, anchoring the

0:26:23.000 --> 0:26:27.440
<v Speaker 2>tendon to the bones with sutures, and set John's arm

0:26:27.600 --> 0:26:32.680
<v Speaker 2>in a splint at a ninety degree angle. After the procedure,

0:26:34.280 --> 0:26:35.280
<v Speaker 2>it was time to wait.

0:26:38.920 --> 0:26:40.800
<v Speaker 6>I was not sure that we could bring him back

0:26:40.840 --> 0:26:45.640
<v Speaker 6>to that level of strength and nobility, and that's why

0:26:45.680 --> 0:26:48.800
<v Speaker 6>I told him that there was some question in my

0:26:48.840 --> 0:26:52.840
<v Speaker 6>mind about his returning and that perhaps he should have

0:26:52.880 --> 0:26:54.879
<v Speaker 6>an alternate career in mind.

0:26:58.640 --> 0:27:03.200
<v Speaker 2>After the procedure was performed on September twenty fifth, nineteen

0:27:03.359 --> 0:27:09.960
<v Speaker 2>seventy four, John started a lengthy rehab process in October,

0:27:10.320 --> 0:27:15.200
<v Speaker 2>the Oakland A's consecutive World Series winners in nineteen seventy two,

0:27:15.280 --> 0:27:19.280
<v Speaker 2>in nineteen seventy three, We're facing off against the Dodgers

0:27:19.520 --> 0:27:23.399
<v Speaker 2>in nineteen seventy four, and the Dodgers were without Tommy

0:27:23.480 --> 0:27:25.040
<v Speaker 2>John to Today's.

0:27:24.640 --> 0:27:27.080
<v Speaker 4>Win the World Championship again in nineteen seventy four.

0:27:27.119 --> 0:27:29.360
<v Speaker 5>It could be because of the album you're looking at

0:27:29.400 --> 0:27:29.920
<v Speaker 5>right now.

0:27:30.160 --> 0:27:33.520
<v Speaker 2>John was interviewed for television standing on the field in

0:27:33.560 --> 0:27:37.359
<v Speaker 2>his uniform with his left arm and a cast in

0:27:37.440 --> 0:27:37.879
<v Speaker 2>a sling.

0:27:38.480 --> 0:27:41.320
<v Speaker 5>It belongs to Tommy John, who had All Star break,

0:27:41.680 --> 0:27:43.560
<v Speaker 5>was the winningest pitcher in the National League.

0:27:43.600 --> 0:27:45.200
<v Speaker 4>And Tommy, you had a thirteen.

0:27:44.840 --> 0:27:45.400
<v Speaker 3>To three record.

0:27:45.480 --> 0:27:47.280
<v Speaker 4>You've never picked up another victory.

0:27:47.040 --> 0:27:52.040
<v Speaker 5>After that, right Tony, I tried to pitch. I think

0:27:52.080 --> 0:27:55.080
<v Speaker 5>I waited about eight or nine weeks and rested some,

0:27:55.320 --> 0:27:57.959
<v Speaker 5>then tried to come back and throw. And the season

0:27:58.000 --> 0:28:01.400
<v Speaker 5>was growing short and I had to make a decision

0:28:01.800 --> 0:28:04.600
<v Speaker 5>to get my arm operated on. Doctor Frank Job went

0:28:04.640 --> 0:28:07.080
<v Speaker 5>in and reconstructed my left elbow.

0:28:07.160 --> 0:28:08.840
<v Speaker 3>Tommy John, I hope you do come back as an

0:28:08.840 --> 0:28:10.920
<v Speaker 3>important factor in the National agueain for this bronc of

0:28:11.000 --> 0:28:11.760
<v Speaker 3>the Dodgers.

0:28:13.440 --> 0:28:16.320
<v Speaker 2>The Dodgers lost the series to the A's. By the way,

0:28:16.960 --> 0:28:20.560
<v Speaker 2>the A's one of the few teams to have done

0:28:20.560 --> 0:28:24.520
<v Speaker 2>a three peat and Tommy John also sat on the

0:28:24.520 --> 0:28:28.679
<v Speaker 2>bench for the entire nineteen seventy five season, or not

0:28:28.800 --> 0:28:34.480
<v Speaker 2>on the bench, but rather rehabbing in various facilities, still

0:28:34.800 --> 0:28:38.240
<v Speaker 2>with no confirmation that he'd ever be able to pitch again.

0:28:38.760 --> 0:28:43.120
<v Speaker 2>It had to be proven. By the spring of nineteen

0:28:43.280 --> 0:28:47.080
<v Speaker 2>seventy six, Tommy John had built up enough strength to

0:28:47.160 --> 0:28:50.239
<v Speaker 2>throw off the mound. He was going to attempt to

0:28:50.280 --> 0:28:56.840
<v Speaker 2>come back to the major leagues that year. On April sixteenth,

0:28:56.960 --> 0:29:00.800
<v Speaker 2>nineteen seventy six, John pitched for the Dodger against the

0:29:00.800 --> 0:29:04.920
<v Speaker 2>Braves in his first game since his injury, and nobody

0:29:05.040 --> 0:29:09.000
<v Speaker 2>was surprised to see that he just wasn't the same pitcher.

0:29:11.720 --> 0:29:21.840
<v Speaker 2>He'd actually improved after coming back from UCL replacement surgery.

0:29:22.080 --> 0:29:25.320
<v Speaker 2>John not only went on to win twenty games for

0:29:25.400 --> 0:29:28.120
<v Speaker 2>the first time in his major league career, he had

0:29:28.240 --> 0:29:32.520
<v Speaker 2>multiple twenty win seasons. He was voted into All Star Games,

0:29:32.920 --> 0:29:37.080
<v Speaker 2>he won World Series titles, and he made opening day starts.

0:29:37.840 --> 0:29:42.160
<v Speaker 2>John didn't retire for another fifteen years. He finally hung

0:29:42.240 --> 0:29:45.560
<v Speaker 2>up his spikes in nineteen eighty nine, at the age

0:29:45.720 --> 0:29:50.400
<v Speaker 2>of forty six. He had logged twenty six seasons in

0:29:50.440 --> 0:29:54.040
<v Speaker 2>the big leagues. That's tied for the second most seasons

0:29:54.160 --> 0:29:59.240
<v Speaker 2>pitched ever by a player in history. And while he

0:29:59.320 --> 0:30:03.000
<v Speaker 2>won a one hundred and twenty four games before his

0:30:03.120 --> 0:30:07.680
<v Speaker 2>elbow surgery, he went on to win another one hundred

0:30:07.720 --> 0:30:12.960
<v Speaker 2>and sixty four games after the surgery. He pitched twelve

0:30:13.000 --> 0:30:18.960
<v Speaker 2>seasons before the surgery and he pitched fourteen seasons after

0:30:19.080 --> 0:30:23.920
<v Speaker 2>the surgery. He was living proof that this surgery could

0:30:23.920 --> 0:30:29.160
<v Speaker 2>give pitchers a second life, and as a personification of

0:30:29.240 --> 0:30:34.400
<v Speaker 2>the resilience possible in baseball, it was assured Tommy John's

0:30:34.480 --> 0:30:47.800
<v Speaker 2>name would live on forever. Rest in peace, Tommy John.

0:30:53.920 --> 0:30:54.280
<v Speaker 1>Dodger.

0:30:54.360 --> 0:30:59.120
<v Speaker 2>Blue Dream is written and produced by Me Richard Parks.

0:30:59.280 --> 0:31:04.840
<v Speaker 2>The third original music in this episode by William Ryan Fritch,

0:31:05.160 --> 0:31:11.080
<v Speaker 2>Jonathan Snipes, the Blasting Company, and by me. Special thanks

0:31:11.120 --> 0:31:16.200
<v Speaker 2>to Jordan Bass, Tyler Hill, and Caitlin Esh and also

0:31:16.400 --> 0:31:21.720
<v Speaker 2>to Jack Harris formerly of The La Times. My co

0:31:21.800 --> 0:31:27.480
<v Speaker 2>host is Chef Wesley Avila. Please help us out by

0:31:27.560 --> 0:31:31.320
<v Speaker 2>rating and reviewing on Apple Podcasts today. We have a

0:31:31.360 --> 0:31:35.240
<v Speaker 2>goal to reach two hundred ratings by the end of

0:31:35.320 --> 0:31:38.400
<v Speaker 2>this week. Take a moment and help us get there

0:31:38.600 --> 0:31:39.480
<v Speaker 2>right now.

0:31:39.800 --> 0:31:41.200
<v Speaker 1>Thank you. Dodger.

0:31:41.240 --> 0:31:44.600
<v Speaker 2>Blue Dream is produced in partnership with Iheart's Mike Wiltoura

0:31:44.680 --> 0:31:49.720
<v Speaker 2>podcast Network. For more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app,

0:31:49.880 --> 0:31:54.200
<v Speaker 2>Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

0:32:00.280 --> 0:32:02.640
<v Speaker 6>The Rist is feted p