Tommy John pitched a grueling 26 years in Major League Baseball, was a four-time All Star and had the second-most wins of any pitcher since 1900.
But John, 83, who died over the weekend, was mostly known throughout the world for a miracle surgical procedure that extended his throwing career by an incredible 15 years.
John was nicknamed “The Bionic Man” after he came back to the mound a year following recuperation from elbow surgery to repair a torn ligament he suffered during the 1974 season.
Dr. Frank Jobe, the physician for the LA Dodgers, devised and then performed a first-of-its-kind ligament-replacement surgery on John later that year.
John became the first pitcher to undergo, and successfully return to baseball following, such surgery, leading to the procedure’s public familiarity.
“Tommy John surgery” has since become a common procedure among injured pitchers.
The surgery involves replacing a ligament with a tendon from either another place in the pitcher’s body or from an organ donor.
The procedure was performed in 2008 on pitcher Charlie Furbush, who was born in Portland and grew up in South Portland.
Furbush, who went to St. Joseph’s College of Standish and later Louisiana State, was drafted in 2007 by the Detroit Tigers, spending four years in the minors.
He missed the 2008 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. But the procedure kept him in the game, so to speak.
The 6’5” Furbush made his debut in the majors three years later, soon being traded to the Seattle Mariners.
He was diagnosed in 2015 with a partially-torn rotator cuff and biceps tendinitis, missing the remainder of the season.
Furbush underwent rehab and shoulder therapy as well as additional surgery, missing the 2016 season.
He was sent downstairs to Triple-A that year and eventually announced his retirement from baseball, in 2019 at the age of 33, citing a failure to return to full health despite numerous procedures and rehabilitation.
