Tommy John, the pitcher whose elbow surgery became one of baseball’s most famous medical milestones, is facing a health battle that prompted him to write a farewell letter shared by the New York Yankees on Saturday.
The 83-year-old’s condition was described only as “health issues” by the team in a social media post. In his message, John thanked the organization and the Steinbrenner family for the chance to say goodbye to the people who followed his long career.
“I want to thank the Yankees organization and the Steinbrenner family for giving me this opportunity to say goodbye to everyone,” John wrote, “along with all the friends and fans who followed me throughout my 26-year career.”
The letter was posted on the Yankees’ 78th Old-Timers’ Day, with the team saying John was sharing a message from his home in Bradenton, Florida. John has previously taken part in the event.
John’s name is forever tied to the 1974 elbow surgery performed by Dr. Frank Jobe, a procedure that would later become known as Tommy John surgery, or TJ.
He was the first pitcher to undergo it, and it extended his career for several more years. Jobe died in 2014, and John mentioned him in the letter.
Over the course of his MLB career, John pitched for six teams and spent eight seasons with the Yankees, seven with the White Sox, six with the Dodgers, four with the Angels and three combined seasons with Cleveland and Oakland. He started 700 games, a number that speaks to just how long he lasted in the game.
After retiring at 46, he moved into broadcasting and coaching at the collegiate and minor-league levels.
Bucky Dent, one of John’s former Yankees teammates, learned last week that John was in poor health and went to see him.
“I got to spend a couple hours with him,” Dent said. “Just talked baseball.
He was doing alright. It’s difficult.
I just wanted to spend time with him.”
Dent was at Yankee Stadium for Old-Timers’ Day and said John’s health came up among those in attendance.
“He pitched a long time, and had a surgery named after him,” Dent said. “He’s a guy that went out there and did the job. … My heart goes out to him.”
John has previously been diagnosed with bladder cancer and has also dealt with coronavirus and blood clots in his lungs. The team said the details of his current condition were not immediately clear.
In the closing lines of his letter, John recalled advice from his father on the day he left for his first pitching job:
“The day I left for my first job as a pitcher,” John wrote, “my father looked at me and said, ‘Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: whether you make it in the big leagues or you don’t, you’ll always just be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana.
“I’ve never forgotten those words. Thank you and God bless.”
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