He never threw a pitch.  He never stole a base.  He didn’t hit a single homerun.  Yet, Dr. Frank Jobe left a mark on Major League Baseball that will never be erased.  In 1974, Dr. Jobe became the first to perform an elbow procedure that has become famously known as “Tommy John surgery.”  The procedure, which involves grafting a tendon from the forearm into the elbow to replace a ruptured ligament, has saved the careers of hundreds of Major League players and has allowed scores of other athletes to continue competing on the field of play. The procedure was first performed on pitcher Tommy John, who at the time was a 12-year Major League veteran.  Following the groundbreaking surgery, John went on to pitch another 14 more seasons, including three seasons in which he won 20 games – all without ever missing a single day due to a problem with his surgically repaired elbow.  Without the surgery, John’s career would have ended in 1974; instead, he retired from the game in 1989 at the age of 46, having won 288 Major League games (including 164 games after the surgery). Tommy John surgery has now become a common procedure that has […]