During his 26 seasons in Major League Baseball, pitcher Tommy John had some of his best years while pitching for the Chicago White Sox. John played seven seasons for the Sox before he underwent a successful surgery to repair his throwing arm, a surgery which would eventually be named after him.
John required surgery in 1974 while pitching for the Dodgers, and after he bounced back with a solid season in 1975, ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction would forever be known in sports circles as Tommy John surgery. John went on to pitch for fifteen more years after having his arm surgically repaired. Many major league pitchers have had the surgery since, but usually require at least a year of recovery time.
While with the White Sox, Tommy John had an earned run average of 2.95 over seven seasons, while winning 82 games. He pitched 56 complete games during that span with the Sox, and also threw 21 shutouts.
John was a predecessor to future White Sox star pitcher, Mark Buehrle. John relied on off-speed pitches to keep batters off balance, and frequently got batters to hit ground balls, similar to Buehrle. Like Buehrle, John was an innings-eater for the White Sox, averaging 213 innings pitched per season.
One of his finest seasons with the White Sox was in 1966, when he pitched 10 complete games along with five shutouts. He also posted a solid earned run average of 2.62 that season. He would top that figure in each of the next two seasons, posting an ERA of 2.47 in 1967, and 1.98 in 1968.
After the White Sox traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dick Allen, after the 1971 season, Tommy John would go on to play in three fall classics, and he pitched until he retired after the 1989 season.
While most baseball fans remember Tommy John for the groundbreaking surgery performed on him in 1974, John should be best known to White Sox fans for his steady, sometimes brilliant pitching performances in the late 60′s.
-James Kries
