Former MLB pitcher Tommy John dies at age 83

Tommy John, born Thomas Edward John Jr. on May 22, 1943, in Terre Haute, Indiana, died on Saturday night, August 16, 2026, at his home in Bradenton, Florida, according to NPR. He was 83. John had been in hospice care, per NBC News.

John was a four-time All-Star who compiled a record of 288 wins and 231 losses with a 3.34 ERA across a 26-year career from 1963 to 1989, according to NPR. He recorded 2,245 strikeouts and pitched for Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees, the California Angels and the Oakland Athletics. His major league debut came on September 6, 1963, when he pitched one inning in relief for Cleveland. John made the opening day start for both the 1966 Chicago White Sox and the 1989 New York Yankees, per NPR.

But John's legacy rests not solely on his playing record. At age 31, in 1974, he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow while pitching a 13-3 season against the Montreal Expos, having led the National League in victories going into the All-Star break. The injury appeared career-ending. Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers' team physician, proposed an experimental procedure: replacing the ligament with a tendon from John's right forearm. According to NPR, Jobe gave the surgery 100-to-1 odds of success. The operation took place on September 25, 1974, with Jobe making holes in the humerus and ulna bones of John's left arm and using anchors to insert the tendon in a figure-eight pattern. John's arm was in a cast for four months. After the surgery, his left hand was shriveled and he lacked feeling in several fingers because of damage to the ulnar nerve; Jobe performed a second procedure to reroute the nerve that was necessary to John's full recovery.

John spent the entire 1975 season rebuilding strength in his arm, working with team trainer Bill Buhler and using Silly Putty to help regain strength, squeezing three Silly Putty eggs, per NBC News. By spring training of 1975, he had recovered the full range of motion in his left arm. He worked with fellow Dodgers pitcher Mike Marshall, who had a doctorate in kinesiology, on learning a different grip after the surgery, according to NPR. John returned to the Dodgers rotation two years after his surgery, making 31 starts and managing two shutouts in his 1976 comeback season, per NBC News. He recorded the first of his three 20-win seasons in 1977, helping the Dodgers to the National League pennant that year. John had consecutive 20-win seasons with the Yankees after signing a free agent deal following the Dodgers' 1978 NL flag, per NBC News. In total, he won 124 games before the surgery and 164 after, according to NPR. His final appearance came days after his 46th birthday. John pitched for 14 additional years after his injury before his retirement in 1989.

John was on the Hall of Fame ballot from 1995 through 2009 but never received more than 31.7 percent of the votes, falling well short of the 75 percent required for election, per NPR. He had the second-most wins of any pitcher since 1900 not to be elected to the Hall of Fame, according to NPR. John never won the Cy Young Award, per NBC News.

The surgical procedure John underwent has become one of sports medicine's most consequential innovations. More than 2,600 big leaguers and thousands more amateur players have had ulnar collateral ligament reconstructions, known as Tommy John surgery, according to NPR. Modern pitchers who have undergone the procedure include Shohei Ohtani, Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom and Bryce Harper, per NBC News. Dr. Neal ElAttrache, Dodgers team physician, said in 2024, according to NPR: "If you put it in dollars and cents, I think there's no question that Tommy John is the most valuable reconstructive procedure there is."

On August 8, 2026, the New York Yankees released a social media post in which John announced his retirement from public life, per NPR. In the statement, John wrote that he wanted to say goodbye to everyone, including friends and fans, saying "I will never forget you." In his farewell, per NBC News, John thanked Yankees owners and staff as well as the doctor who saved his career, writing: "That surgery has since gone on to save the careers of countless pitchers, including many of the very best in the game today. Thank you to all the fans who supported me and my teammates for 26 years. I will never forget you." John had skipped the previous weekend's annual Old-Timers' Day event at Yankee Stadium, per NBC News.

Dodgers President Stan Kasten said, according to NBC News: "Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can't be overstated. His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come." The Yankees called John "a bedrock of our rotation during his time in pinstripes and a longtime favorite of Yankees fans," per NPR. The statement continued, per NBC News: "We pause to remember the totality of his legacy, his competitiveness and skill, his penchant for conversation, his kind and gracious nature, and his stature as an athletic and medical pioneer."

Former Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti posted on X, according to NPR: "Tommy was a wonderful person who competed to the utmost and did what no player had ever done to save his career, in conjunction with the esteemed Dr. Frank Jobe. The HOF is missing Tommy John." Gerrit Cole, who returned to play for the Yankees in 2026 after having Tommy John surgery, expressed gratitude to John after the Yankees won on August 8, per NBC News. Cole said: "The surgery itself is saving us, but the player had to step up to the table and do it. Having gone through the process, I can imagine that he was just as diligent, if not more diligent, to the rehab process, and really writing the book for all of us, to a certain extent."

John is survived by his wife and three children: Tommy, Travis and Tamara, per NBC News. Agent Mike Maguire announced John's death on Sunday, according to NPR.