Remembering Tommy John

Tommy John passed away the other day at the age of 83. He had been battling bladder cancer. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana in 1943, he was living in Bradenton Florida when he passed away. His passing was announced by the Yankees front office, and I read it on MLBTR.

Tommy never possessed a blazing fastball. He relied mostly on his curve, which he learned from a friend of his fathers, Arley Andrews, who had been in the Phillies farm system. He relied on the pitch so much that he once went against the wishes of his high school coach in a game against his school's archrival. He told John the scouts did not come to watch him throw curves. He did it anyway, he was pretty cocky since he had only lost one game at that point. He lost the game but was satisfied he pitched the way he wanted to. The Cleveland scout who filed a report that day, John Schulte, and the report he filed, less than overpowering speed, stuck with him for years afterwards. He was labeled a finesse pitcher.

In 1961, John was signed by the Indians as an amateur free agent out of Gerstmeyer High School in Terre Haute. He was 18 and he was sent to Class-D Dubuque Iowa of the Midwest League. He went 10-4 and was promoted to Charleston in the Class-A Eastern League for 1962. He learned a valuable lesson about himself; he simply did not know how to pitch against these kinds of hitters. He would just rear back and throw. Steve Jankowski, a player-coach in the Indians system, took him aside and told him he did not have to get hitters out by himself, he had 8 players to help him. Throw at about 80% and save some for the later innings.

It worked, his control returned and he began to get hitters out. He was learning how to pitch very quickly. Just as suddenly, he was promoted to AAA Jacksonville. At 19 he felt out of place with players who were 5 or more years older than he was. He had been 6-8 at single A. A team coach, Al Jones, took him under his wing. John pitched well going 2-2 and recording 2 wins in the International League playoffs. Jones had instructed him to throw the pitch his catcher called.

In 63, he was sent back to Jacksonville, this time he struggled. Jones was no longer there. He was sent down to Charleston for more seasoning and pitched well going 9-2 and earning a September call up to the Indians. He impressed manager Birdie Tebbets by allowing just 5 earned runs in 20 innings. He called John's fastball, deceptive.

The Indians expected a lot of their young stable of pitchers in 1964. Luis Tiant 23, Jack Kralick 29, Sonny Siebert 27, Sam McDowell 21 and the 21-year-old John. Tebbets started the season in a sickbed, and Cleveland coaches could not resist tinkering with John's approach to pitching. Coach Early Wynn suggested John add a slider. He obliged, but the changes to his delivery affected his control. He went 2-9 and was demoted to AAA Portland in the PCL. He went back to his 2-pitch routine and became effective again. But the Indians decided to cut their losses and included John in a 3-team trade that sent John, Tommy Agee and John Romano to the White Sox, the Indians got Rocky Colavito and Cam Carreon. Colavito from the A's, Carreon from the Sox. The A's got Mike Hershberger, Jim Landis and Fred Talbot from the Sox.

John would pitch for Chicago for 7 seasons, posting an 82-80 record with a 2.95 ERA. He made the All-Star team in 1968 but suffered a shoulder injury in August when he was involved in a fight with Dick McAuliffe of the Tigers. He charged the mound because he thought John had thrown at his head. John sat out the rest of the year. When he returned in 69, he seemed less effective, and over the next 3 seasons, the Sox lost confidence in him. The Sox lost a franchise record 106 games in 1970. John in 71, had his worst full season as a major leaguer going 13-16 with a 3.61 ERA. He was dealt to the Dodgers along with Steve Huntz for slugger Dick Allen. Allen had managed to piss off Dodger management by not doing some PR stuff they lined up. Saying he was being paid to hit.

Allowed by the Dodgers to return to his way of pitching, he went 11-5 with a 2.89 ERA in 29 starts. He had 4 complete games and 1 shutout. He jammed his elbow into the ground in a slide in September jarring loose some bone chips. His elbow was inflamed enough to shut him down for the year. Dr. Jobe removed the chips that winter. In 73, he went 16-7 and led the league in winning pct. He again had 4 complete games this time he had 2 shutouts.

In 1974, John was on pace to have his best season ever, he was 13-3 with a 2.59 ERA. On July 17th, he was pitching a twilight game against the Expos at Dodger stadium. He was leading 4-0 in the third and pitching to Hal Breeden with 2 on and no one out. His intention was to throw a sinker on the outside of the plate and induce Breeden into hitting into a DP. For whatever reason as he threw the pitch, his arm went dead. The pitch fell well short of the plate. He tried his arm, there was no pain, so he got ready and threw another pitch. There was a loud pop in his elbow and the same dead arm sensation. He called Alston out to the mound and told him he hurt his arm. LA ended up losing 5-4.

They waited to see if his arm would respond to rest. It did not. It had actually become worse with spasms causing the muscles on either side of the joint to tighten. Jobe X-rayed the arm but could not see any damage to the ligament. He sent John to a specialist, Dr. Herb Stark who recommended rest and home therapy. The team meanwhile, locked in a tight pennant race waited for some good news. In mid-August, after resting for a month, he joined the Dodgers in New York and attempted to throw batting practice. He could not even reach the plate. He went to Alston and told him he was probably done for the season.

He went to Dr. Jobe and told him he wanted him to operate. They had discussed a new kind of operation the month before where the ligament would be replaced. Back in those days, going under the knife as the players would say usually meant the end of a player's career. John took a leap of faith and told Jobe he would do whatever was needed to be able to pitch again.

On September 24th, in the middle of what would be a 3-hour operation, Jobe made a fateful decision to replace the ligament rather than repair it since because of the use, there was nothing left to repair. He had to look for a replacement, and he took one from John's right wrist. When John woke up and found out what had happened during surgery, he found his left arm bandaged and difficult to move and his right hand was also bandaged. How long it would take to recover from the first ever TJ surgery as it is now known, was unknown at the time.

John did all the exercises prescribed by Jobe and Dodgers trainer, Bill Buhler. One of the problems was that two of the fingers on his pitching hand were paralyzed and would not move. One of Buhler's suggestions was to squeeze "Silly Putty" to strengthen the hand. He went to spring training with the team in 75 and did all the pre-season workouts the other pitchers did except throw. In June he had a breakthrough, he could finally uncurl his two paralyzed fingers. In July, he found the power returning to his pitches during a bullpen session. Soon after that, he was pitching batting practice. The coaches were so impressed he was sent to the Arizona Instructional League. On September 29th he pitched 3 perfect innings with 4 Ks, 39 pitches and a bunch of groundballs. He made 4 more appearances and worked his way up to 7 innings and he kept pitching well.

John rejoined the Dodgers for the 76-season going 10-10, 3.09 ERA in 207 innings. He was named the National Leagues comeback Player of the Year Award given by the Sporting News and the Fred Hutchinson Award for Outstanding Courage and Character. The photo above is him pitching in Pittsburgh in 76. He pitched even better for the 77-pennant winning team going 20-7, 2.78 and finishing 2nd in the Cy Young vote to the Phillies, Steve Carlton. He then beat Carlton 4-1 in the deciding game four of the NLCS catapulting the Dodgers into the World Series with the Yankees. He lost his only start in the World Series 5-3 to Ron Guidry in game three.

1978 was his free agent season. He went 17-10 with a 3.30 ERA in 30 starts. He again beat the Phillies in the LCS pitching a 4-0 shutout against Dick Ruthven in game two in Los Angeles. He started 2 games in the World Series against the Yankees, winning game 1 and getting a no decision in game 4 which LA lost 4-3 in 10 innings. On November 2nd, he became a free agent, and on the 21st of November, the 35-year-old signed a 5-year deal with the Yankees.

He pitched 3 seasons for the bombers, winning 21 in each of his first two seasons. In 81, the strike shortened year, he was 9-8 in 20 starts. He went 1-1 in the LDS and LCS losing to the Brewers but beating the A's in the Yankees sweep. Against the Dodgers in the World Series, he was 1-0 in 3 games, starting 2 and relieving in 1. He and Goose Gossage shut out LA in game two, putting them in a 2-0 hole. LA won the next three games including beating Yankees Ace, Ron Guidry 2-1 in game five on back-to-back homers by Yeager and Guererro. Back in New York, John started game six against Burt Hooton. He pitched 4 innings, giving up just 1 run. The game was tied 1-1 as the Yankees came to bat in the bottom of the 4th. Nettles doubled, Hooton retired the next 2 hitters and then walked Larry Milbourne to get to John. Yanks manager, Bob Lemon decided to pinch hit for his starter in the 4th inning of a 1-1 game. It became a very controversial decision. Bobby Murcer then flied out to end the inning. John could be seen pacing the dugout in disbelief. George Fraier relieved John and was touched for 3 runs and the Dodgers never looked back cruising to a 9-2 series winning game. Frazier became the second pitcher to lose 3 games in a World Series, the first being Lefty Williams in the 1919 series thrown by the White Sox.

John started the 82 season with the Yanks but was traded to the Angels in August for P Dennis Rassmussen. He went 4-2 with the Halos and was 1-1 in their playoff loss to the Brewers. He was 40 when the 83 seasons started. He won 11 and lost 13 and went 7-13 the following year. In 85, he was 2-4 when the Angels released him. He signed with the A's and went 2-6. After the 85 season, he resigned with the Yankees and would remain with the Yankees until he retired after the 1989 season. In those four years he was 29-24. He retired when he was 46 years old after 26 seasons in the majors, that is second only to Nolan Ryan and Cap Ansons 27. He finished with a 288-231 record and a 3.34 ERA. He struck out 2245 batters and walked just 1259.

He never received enough votes to make it into the Hall of Fame even though several Hall of Famers put up similar numbers. Besides the surgery that bears his name, he faced several personal challenges. During the 81 season, his son, Travis, who was 2, fell from a third story window and struck his head on the fender of a parked car. He was in Detroit when his panicked wife called. He immediately left the team and flew home to New Jersey where his son lies in a coma. For 19-days he stayed by his side, pitching home games when it was his turn. The child finally came out of his coma and had a normal life.

After his retirement, in March of 2010, his son Taylor, died of a seizure and heart failure due to an overdose of prescription drugs. He worked varied jobs after retiring including some in broadcasting. The surgery used to revive his career has been done on hundreds of athletes since that day. Including several players on the current Dodger roster. John spent 6 seasons with LA, but his influence on the organization can never be trivialized. RIP Tommy John 1943-2026.

Sugar Land Space Cowboys 3 – OKC Comets 2 

I turned this game on to watch RHSP Gavin Stone, who was brilliant.  He completed 3.0 scoreless innings, with no hits, no BB, and 5 K.  The only base runner was a batter who reached 1B on an error when 1B Ryan Ward whiffed on a throw from 3B Noah Miller.  He only threw 38 pitches, 30 for strikes.  

RHRP Christian Romero was going to be the bulk pitcher piggybacking off Stone.  He pitched a clean 4th. 

Neither team had a hit until SS Hyeseong Kim led off the 5th with a single.  He stole 2B but was stranded.  

The Sugar Land feed was lost and I switched over to Tulsa. I had also problems getting X.com videos. 

In the bottom of the 5th, Romero allowed a 2-out single but nothing more. But the wheels came off in the 6th.  The leadoff batter singled and scored when the second batter doubled.  A BB and HBP loaded the bases.  Two runs scored when the next batter reached base on an error.  3 runs scored, 1 earned. 

Romero and RHRP Ryder Ryan pitched 2.0 scoreless innings. 

OKC seemingly has forgotten how to hit. After Wednesday weak hitting game, OKC went into the 9th inning with just 2 singles.  CF Zach Ehrhard drew an inning opening BB.  After 2 outs, LF Alek Thomas hit an inside the park HR (7) to climb to within one run of the lead.  But OKC could not get another runner on and dropped back-to-back games while scoring a total of 3 runs. 

Box Score 

Tulsa Drillers 8 – Amarillo Sod Poodles (Arizona) 5  

With a 8-1 lead, things got hinky once Tulsa brought in the relievers starting in the 6th. 

RHSP Aidan Foeller was the Drillers SP and had another good outing.  He retired 6 of the 7 batters he faced in the first two innings, with no runs. 

In the bottom of the 2nd, Tulsa put up 5 runs, with 3 coming off one swing and mammoth HR by LF Josue De Paula.  With 2 outs, 3B Logan Wagner was HBP.  RF Kole Myers doubled (7) Wager to 3rd.  SS Jose Izarra followed with a 2-run double (4).  2B Taylor Young singled, and JDP slugged the 3-run HR (24). 

In the Amarillo 4th, the leadoff hitter singled.  After 2 outs, the runner stole 2nd and scored on a single. 

In the bottom of the 4th, Izarra hit a 1 out single, followed by Young’s single.  JDP singled home Izarra for his 95th RBI.  1B Griffin Lockwood-Powell doubled (12) to score Young. 

In the 6th with 2 outs, Myers hit a no-doubter HR (6) giving Tulsa an 8-1 lead.

Foeller exited the game after 5.0 innings.  He allowed 1 run, 4 hits, 1 BB, and struck out 6.  This was his 5th start with Tulsa, and after his first two appearances, he has been simply brilliant.  In his last three starts, he has completed 13.0 IP, allowed 2 runs, 8 hits, 4 BB, and 13 K. 

Tulsa now has three pitchers who are headlining the rotation who started the year at GL…RHSP Christian Zazueta, LHSP Zach Root, and RHSP Aidan Foeller.  With RHSP Patrick Copen finding himself in the 2nd half, and LHSP Adam Serwinowski, that forms a very formidable starting 5.  RHSP Payton Martin rounds out the rotation. 

LHRP Evan Shaw was first reliever up.  The 2nd batter reached base on a a one out error. With 2 outs, Shaw apparently forgot how to throw strikes, walking 2.  Before the 2nd batter walked, Shaw pulled a Landon Knack.  He got a foul pop up and ran over to the foul line, only to get in the way of the catcher.  There was no reason for Shaw to be near that play and instead of the 3rd out, he walked the batter.  He then balked a run in. 

Next reliever up…LHRP Christian Suarez.  He walked a batter in the 7th but got the GIDP.  Not so lucky in the 8th.  First batter tripled after Myers misplayed his fly ball.  The runner scored on an infield single.  That runner scored on the 2nd triple of the inning.  The third run scored on a RBI bunt single when Suarez decided to run to the ball instead of 1B.  RHRP Cam Day and his upper 90’s 4-seamer was called in.  He got the final two outs without another run. 

Day was able to close out the game, even with traffic, for the save (7). 

·      Josue De Paula – 2-5, 1 run, 4 RBI, HR (24)

·      Taylor Young – 2-4, 1 BB, 2 runs

·      Kole Myers – 2-3, 1 BB, 2 runs, 1 RBI, double (7), HR (6)

·      Jose Izarra – 2-4,2 runs, 2 RBI, double (4)

·      Doubles – Griffin Lockwood-Powell (12) 

Box Score

Great Lakes Loons 7 – Fort Wayne Tin Caps (San Diego) 2 

In the 1st inning, with 1 out, RF Eduardo Quintero drew a BB, and the young teenage phenom SS Emil Morales slugged a 2-run HR (18).  

In the 2nd, 3B Mairo Martinus singled.  He stole 2nd when the next batter struck out and moved to 3rd on a fly out.  Martinus scored on C Gio Cueto’s RBI single. 

In RHSP Will Gagnon’s 2nd GL start, he pitched 4 scoreless innings, albeit with only 1 clean inning.  In the 5th, Gagnon walked the first batter, and with 1 out, allowed a single.  The run scored on a booted ground ball for an unearned run. 

In the 6th, with one out, Morales, 2B Nico Perez, and 1B Eduardo Guerrero each singled to load the bases.  After Martinus made the error allowing a run to score, he more than made up for it with a grand slam HR (4), and a 7-1 lead. 

LHRP Matt Lanzendorfer and RHRP Robby Porco pitched 2.0 IP each.  Porco gave up a run in the 8th on a BB and RBI double.

·      Emil Morales – 2-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI, HR (18)

·      Eduardo Guerrero – 2-4, 1 run

·      Mairo Martinus – 2-4, 2 runs, 4 RBI, HR (4)  

Box Score 

Inland Empire 66ers (Seattle) 12 – Ontario Tower Buzzers 5 

Ontario seems to be running thin on pitchers. 

RHSP Jack O’Connor continues to struggle.  In the 2nd inning, he allowed a single, a SB, and a RBI single for a 1-0 IE lead.  

Ontario took a brief lead in the bottom of the 2nd. 3B Caleb Johnson singled, moved to 2nd on a PB, stole 3B.  CF Brendan Tunink drew a walk.  Johnson was out at home on a fielder’s choice.  C Bryan Gonzalez-Garcia doubled (5) home 2 runs. 

O’Connor and RHRP Javier Bartolozzi ganged up to allow five runs in the 3rd.  O’Connor walked two batters while also getting 2 outs, and Bartolozzi was summoned to relieve him.  He faced five batters and could not get an out.  3 singles and 2 BB later, and RHRP Accimias Morales was asked to get the final out of the inning. 

Ontario picked up a pair in the 4th.  LF Ching-Hsien Ko reached an error, followed by Johnson’s single.  Both runners moved up on a balk.  Ko scored on a groundout, and Johnson scored on Gonzalez-Garcia’s single. 

Morales pitched 2.0 scoreless innings.  But in the 6th, Morales gave up a one out solo HR.  That was followed by 2 BB and a RBI single.  RHRP Devin Bell relieved Morales.  He gave up a SF for the 3rd run of the inning.  The runner moved to 3rd on a errant catcher pickoff attempt.  The run scored when Bell threw a WP on strike 3. 

RHRP Jose Vasquez allowed a run in both the 8th and 9th innings.  

Ontario scored a run in the 9th.  Tunink walked and moved to 3rd when 1B Javier Herrera singled.  Gonzalez-Garcia hit a SF for his 4th RBI of the 5 runs scored. 

·      Caleb Johnson – 2-4, 1 run

·      Bryan Gonzalez-Garcia – 2-3, 4 RBI, SF, double (5) 

Box Score