Tommy John surgery
noun
A surgical procedure in which a healthy tendon extracted from an arm (or sometimes a leg) is used to replace an arm’s torn ligament. The healthy tendon is threaded through holes drilled into the bone above and below the elbow.Of 102 pitchers in the Braves ' organization, 22 have had Tommy John surgery....
- No pitcher has ever come back successfully from a second Tommy John surgery.
- In the early 1990s, Andrews estimates he did 50 Tommy John surgeries in a year.
Origin
1970s: named after Tommy John (1943–), a US major-league pitcher who, after a debilitating injury, was able to resume his career after undergoing this surgery. The procedure was devised specifically for John by US orthopedic surgeon Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974.