MLB Network interviewed him today. Interesting man. He is not in the HoF… the only other pitcher with more wins in his career who is not in the Hall is Roger Clemens.
“Tommy John” Surgery is 50 years old this year!
- Thread starter joelbc1
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What's really crazy now is how TJ surgery has practically become embedded as part of the normal part of the development path of a MLB pitching prospect.
that's amazing, what used to be a career ending injury players can now come back from within a year or so
I have listened to NESN a lot this season (terminal Red Sox fan) and I have enjoyed Kevin Youklis’ editorials/tutorisks/ diatribes the past few weeks about how MLB teams are going to have to look hard at how they want to use “pitching” in the future. Youklis opinion is the “velocity” has ruined the craft of pitching… abs nothing is a bigger enemy if pitching longevity than velocity. He states that starting pitchers are being way too much to throw 100 pitches per game and that more efficient use of starting pitcher's, their arms and their salaries can be obtained by teaching them to vary sports, and pitch to locations abd demoralize strikeouts. Today’s MKB interview with Tommy John, he stated he believes the #1 reason for “Tommy John surgery” is pitchers try to throw the ball too hard now days. He said he believed he hit his arm trouble because he was an 85 mph fastballer who tried to throw the ball 90 mph and in time he damaged his arm. He too believes baseball would better serve itself by teaching pitchers to pitch within themselves, and learn how to better locate their pitches instead of throwing them 100 mph.
I seem to recall reading a piece earlier in the year where someone was suggesting/testing hypothetical changes to the rules governing roster composition and pitcher appearances like minimum innings per game, such that teams would be forced to be able to use starting for longer periods (with precisely the goal described above noted).
I didn't realize it until just now but he pitched in 26 major league seasons. Won 281 games.
Uh huh… plus he has a surgery named after him! And, he is NOT in the H of Fame… he or Roger C.
Jamie Moyer pitched in 25 seasons and won I believe 261 games. The numbers those older guys put up will probably never be replicated because of the way the game is played today. 200 innings pitched today is considered a lot. I remember Fergie Jenkins averaged over 300 IP over a 6 season stretch.
I think Moyer may have been Digger Phelps son-in-law, fwiw.
You can blame velocity training. Guys in the past that threw at elite speed were born to. Their arms could handle it. Nowadays, we've discovered how to increase throwing velocity remarkably across the board with specific training techniques that never existed in the past. The result is that today, we have scores of pitchers capable of throwing at or near 100 mph from high school up. It's not even a big deal anymore. In the past, it was a select few that reached the very peak of velocity. It's remarkable how common power pitching has become. Yet, it comes with a drawback. There are damaged and destroyed arms everywhere.
When I was growing up, pitchers barely broke a sweat at 200 innings…. Every 4th day for 156 games…
Yeah, the aces of the staff would pitch 20-30 complete games each year. I think they often would only have 9 or 10 pitchers on the staff.
Back in July of 1963 Warren Spahn pitched against Juan Marichal. The final was 1-0 San Francisco…..a 16 inning game. BOTH pitchers went the distance. At one point in the game, the Giants manager offered to sub Marichal and Marichal refused saying be wasn’t leaving ther game “until that old man out there leaves”…..Marichal was 25 years old….Spahn a young 42 years of age in 1963. They dont make’s like that any more.
Also in 1963, the Dodgers swept the Yankees 4 games to 0.
The Dodgers only used 4 pitchers in the World Series. They also only played 13 men total.
Sandy Koufax went the distance in Game One. Johnny Podres went 8 and 1/3 in Game Two. Ron Perranoski came in and got the last two outs.
In Game Three Don Drysdale went the distance.
In Game Four Koufax went the distance again.
In Game Three Ron Fairly played right field instead of Frank Howard. That was the only change for the players out in the field.
Look at how many pitchers teams use today.
The Dodgers only used 4 pitchers in the World Series. They also only played 13 men total.
Sandy Koufax went the distance in Game One. Johnny Podres went 8 and 1/3 in Game Two. Ron Perranoski came in and got the last two outs.
In Game Three Don Drysdale went the distance.
In Game Four Koufax went the distance again.
In Game Three Ron Fairly played right field instead of Frank Howard. That was the only change for the players out in the field.
Look at how many pitchers teams use today.
Good post. In the past, MLB had a lot of pitchers and a few throwers. It’s the opposite now.
Something else to consider in all of this is that limiting pitches and innings so greatly nowadays may in fact be adding to the arm injuries issue instead of inhibiting it. When a starting pitcher knows that he's only going to throw X amount of pitches, he doesn't have to pace himself, as starters in the past did. When a guy took the mound in the first inning in the 1940s through the 1990s, the only restriction on how long he'd remain in the game was how well he was doing and/or how tired he was. Outside of a few legends, like Nolan Ryan, few pitchers in history were able to go 100% for nine innings. There's no reason for any starter to not go full tilt all of the time today. They're coming out early anyway. And what's worse for an arm? 100 pitches thrown at peak velocity or 150 thrown at 75-100%?
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