Former Yankees pitcher Tommy John was not present for the team’s annual “Old Timers’ Day” game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 8.
The team shared the sad reason why.
The Yankees posted a letter from John to their social media accounts in which the 83-year-old said “goodbye to everyone, along with all the friends and fans who followed me throughout my 26-year career.”
John pitched for the Yankees from 1979-82, and again from 1986-89. He made two of his four career All-Star Game appearances wearing pinstripes.
John is most famous for the namesake ligament-replacement surgery performed on his pitching elbow in 1974 that saved his career — and ultimately the careers of perhaps thousands of pitchers in the years that followed.
“Thanks to Dr. Jobe, who saved my arm & made it possible for me to continue pitching,” John wrote in his letter. “That surgery has since gone on to save the careers of countless pitchers, including many of the very best in the game today.”
John missed the 1975 season recuperating from the surgery. Otherwise, he would have tied Nolan Ryan for the most seasons played in MLB history. But his recovery proved to be worth the wait.
John recorded 164 of his 288 career wins after returning to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1976 season.
John pitched 760 major league games for the Cleveland Indians (1963-64), Chicago White Sox (1965-71), Dodgers (1972-78), Yankees, California Angels (1982-85), and Oakland A’s (1985).
“The day I left for my first job as a pitcher,” John wrote in his letter, “my father looked at me & said, ‘Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: whether you make it big in the big leagues or you don’t, you’ll always just be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana.’
“I’ve never forgotten those words. Thank you & God Bless.”
John nearly died in 2020 after a bout with COVID-19 and blood clots in his lungs, among a litany of recent health issues.