Tommy+John+Surgery

The Tommy John surgery is a very common injury in baseball. It is scientifically known as the ulnar collateral ligament, (UCL) reconstruction. This is when a ligament in the elbow is replaced with another ligament from another part of the body. It is common in all sports, but especially baseball.

It is named after a pitcher- Tommy John- who was the first person to be successful through the surgery. The 2009 chances of fully recovering from the surgery were 85 to 92 percent. The time Tommy John got his surgery, his chances were 1 in 100. it took him 18 months to recover, but he returned to the pros and pitched for another 13 seasons before retiring at age 46.

The UCL can become torn or injured just by throwing too much. A lot of people think that the reason for the surgery is the type of pitch or the throwing style, but what really matters is how many pitches are thrown. When you are young, you need to be really careful because your elbow hasn’t fully formed the ULC, so it is very easy to injure your elbow at a young age and you might never be able to throw again.

 Sometimes, pitchers throw harder after the surgery, and this caused children's parents to ask the doctor to have the procedure performed on their un-injured child to enhance their performance. This is due to two main factors. 1- pitchers pay more attention to their conditioning and stay healthy. 2- The ULC takes a long time to deteriorate, so when they get back throwing, it will seem like they are throwing harder because they are used to a slower pitch and now they will be throwing their regular speed.

 At least 40 notable players in the MLB have underwent the surgery but 4 familiar faces are Francisco Liriano, Paul Moliter, Joe Nathan, and Pat Neshek, who all played for the Minnesota Twins.   Back to Home Next Injury