Tommy John

Quotes From John
"If that's any indication of the aging process, I can't wait until I'm 40." — Tommy John, after he pitched a five-hit shutout on his 39th birthday in 1982

Played For
Cleveland Indians (1963-1964)
Chicago White Sox (1965-1971)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1972-1978)
New York Yankees (1979-1982)
California Angels (1982-1985)
Oakland Athletics (1985)
New York Yankees (1986-1989)

Best Season: 1979
John surrendered just nine home runs in more than 276 innings for the Yankees, winning 21 games. He finished second to Baltimore's Mike Flanagan in American League Cy Young Award voting, despite posting a lower ERA of 2.96. John completed 17 games and threw three shutouts in his first season with New York. John threw 20 quality starts in 36 games started, and was 9-1 with a 2.19 ERA in April and May. The left-hander proved to be one of George Steinbrenner's better free agent signings.

Factoids
Tommy John was one of the best control pitchers of his era, but on June 15, 1968, he plunked four Detroit batters, tying an American League record.

Where He Played
In some form of symmetry, John made 700 starts and 60 relief appearances.

Born
Thomas Edward (Jr.) John was born on May 22, 1943, in Terre Haute, IN.

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Left

Primary Position:  P

Primary Team:  NYA

Major League Debut
September 6, 1963 ... The first batter he faced was Dick Phillips of the Senators, who singled. The next batter was Don Zimmer, who also singled. One batter later, John got a double play groundball.

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1963
Pete Rose
Rusty Staub
Joe Morgan
Willie Horton
Jose Cardenal
Jimmy Wynn
Dick Allen
Tommy John
Mickey Lolich

"TJ" seems to be the best anyone ever came up with.

Uniform Numbers
#37 (1963-1964), #25 (1965-1981, 1982 Yankees, 1983-1989), #35 (1982 Angels)

Similar Players
Jim Kaat was a very similar pitcher who has also found himself on the outside looking in on Cooperstown.

Related Players
Don Sutton, Rick Rhoden, and Luis Tiant each pitched with John on two teams, Sutton with the Dodgers and Angels, Rhoden with the Dodgers and Yankees, Tiant with the Indians and Yankees.

Hall of Fame Voting Year Election Votes Pct 1995 BBWAA 98 21.3% 1996 BBWAA 102 21.7% 1997 BBWAA 97 20.5% 1998 BBWAA 129 27.3% 1999 BBWAA 93 18.7% 2000 BBWAA 135 27.1% 2001 BBWAA 146 28.3% 2002 BBWAA 127 26.9% 2003 BBWAA 116 23.4% 2004 BBWAA 111 21.9% 2005 BBWAA 123 23.8% 2006 BBWAA 154 29.6% 2007 BBWAA 125 22.9%

Post-Season Appearances
1977 National League Championship Series
1977 World Series
1978 National League Championship Series
1978 World Series
1980 American League Championship Series
1981 American League Division Playoffs
1981 American League Championship Series
1981 World Series
1982 American League Championship Series

Post-Season Notes
John was very effective in the post-season, posting a 2.65 ERA in 14 games, 12 of them as a starter. He never pitched for a World Championship team, however.

Milestones
John stuck around until he was 46 years old, trying to get to the magical 300-win plateau, but he fell 12 victories short. By the second-half of 1988, he was a poor pitcher, posting a 5.69 ERA after July. In 1989, the lefty went 2-7 in 10 starts before he was released on May 30, after a fifth straight outing where he allowed five runs or more.

Milestones

• June 7, 1980: 200th Win... Was a two-hit, 1-0 victory.

Transactions
June 12, 1961: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent; January 20, 1965: Traded as part of a 3-team trade by the Cleveland Indians with Tommie Agee and Johnny Romano to the Chicago White Sox. The Kansas City Athletics sent Rocky Colavito to the Cleveland Indians. The Chicago White Sox sent a player to be named later, Jim Landis, and Mike Hershberger to the Kansas City Athletics. The Chicago White Sox sent Cam Carreon to the Cleveland Indians. The Chicago White Sox sent Fred Talbot (February 10, 1965) to the Kansas City Athletics to complete the trade; December 2, 1971: Traded by the Chicago White Sox with Steve Huntz to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dick Allen; November 2, 1978: Granted Free Agency; November 21, 1978: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees; August 31, 1982: Traded by the New York Yankees to the California Angels for a player to be named later. The California Angels sent Dennis Rasmussen (November 24, 1982) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade; June 19, 1985: Released by the California Angels; July 12, 1985: Signed as a Free Agent with the Oakland Athletics; November 12, 1985: Granted Free Agency; May 2, 1986: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees; November 12, 1986: Granted Free Agency; January 8, 1987: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees; November 9, 1987: Granted Free Agency; December 21, 1987: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees; November 10, 1988: Released by the New York Yankees; February 13, 1989: Signed as a Free Agent with the New York Yankees; May 30, 1989: Released by the New York Yankees.

All-Star Selections
1968 AL
1978 NL
1979 AL
1980 AL

Replaced
Mudcat Grant

Replaced By
Chuck Cary

Best Strength as a Player
John kept the ball low, and consequently he surrendered few home runs. He gave up roughly 35% fewer homers per nine innings than the average major league pitcher of his era.

Largest Weakness as a Player
Because he kept the ball low, he had a tendency to bounce pitches in the dirt. He led the league in wild pitches once, and was among league leaders several other times.

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