Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com. It’s been nearly 50 years since one of the biggest advancements in sports medicine: Tommy John surgery.
On Sept. 25, 1974, Dr. Frank Jobe first performed the operation on Tommy John, a professional baseball pitcher who played on Major League Baseball (MLB) teams between 1963 and 1989.
During the surgery, Jobe reconstructed a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in John’s left arm. ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MARCH 7, 1857, BASEBALL ADOPTS NINE PLAYERS, NINE INNINGS AS STANDARD OF COMPETITION It was a pioneering achievement for Jobe and a lifeline for John, who went from a career-ending injury to 14 more years in the majors — and an eponymous connection to sports medicine that would live on long past his playing days.
Since then, Tommy John surgery — more formally known as ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine — has been performed on many other baseball players.