 |
 |
Thomas Edward John
Chicago White Sox
Pitcher
Born: May 22, 1943, Terre Haute, IN
Signed: Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent, June 12, 1961
Major League Teams: Cleveland Indians 1963-64; Chicago White Sox 1965-71; Los Angeles Dodgers 1972-74, 1976-78; New York Yankees 1979-82; California Angels 1982-85; Oakland Athletics 1985; New York Yankees 1986-89
World Series Appearances: Los Angeles Dodgers 1977-78; New York Yankees 1981
Tommy John was a veteran of 26 major league seasons, split between his first 12 seasons and his final 14 seasons by the pioneering arm surgery that now unofficially bears his name. His longevity is topped only by Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (#533) and Cap Anson, who both played for 27 seasons. He was the opening day starting pitcher for the White Sox in 1966 and the Yankees in 1989, a four-time All-Star and a 20-game winner three times in 1977, 1979 and 1980. John tore his ulnar collateral ligament in 1974 and underwent an experimental surgery to replace the ligament in his left elbow with a tendon from his right arm. After a lengthy recovery and rehabilitation, John returned to the Dodgers to start the 1976 season. He'd win 164 more games, throwing over 2,500 innings following the surgery.
John's reconstructed arm allowed him to pitch until the age of 46 with the Yankees. He finished with a career record of 288-231 over 760 games, a 3.34 ERA and 2,245 strikeouts. His 288 wins are currently 26th on the all-time list with all other pitchers above him from the modern era, other than Roger Clemens, currently in the Hall of Fame. Following his playing career, John coached in the minor league systems for the Expos and Yankees and managed the Bridgeport Bluefish in the independent Atlantic League between 2007 and 2009.
Tommy John was a veteran of 26 major league seasons, split between his first 12 seasons and his final 14 seasons by the pioneering arm surgery that now unofficially bears his name. His longevity is topped only by Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (#533) and Cap Anson, who both played for 27 seasons. He was the opening day starting pitcher for the White Sox in 1966 and the Yankees in 1989, a four-time All-Star and a 20-game winner three times in 1977, 1979 and 1980. John tore his ulnar collateral ligament in 1974 and underwent an experimental surgery to replace the ligament in his left elbow with a tendon from his right arm. After a lengthy recovery and rehabilitation, John returned to the Dodgers to start the 1976 season. He'd win 164 more games, throwing over 2,500 innings following the surgery.
John's reconstructed arm allowed him to pitch until the age of 46 with the Yankees. He finished with a career record of 288-231 over 760 games, a 3.34 ERA and 2,245 strikeouts. His 288 wins are currently 26th on the all-time list with all other pitchers above him from the modern era, other than Roger Clemens, currently in the Hall of Fame. Following his playing career, John coached in the minor league systems for the Expos and Yankees and managed the Bridgeport Bluefish in the independent Atlantic League between 2007 and 2009.
Some text for this post originally appeared on my 1965 Topps blog.
Building the Set / Card #409
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
The Card / White Sox Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
1969 Season
John slumped a little following a successful 1968 campaign, going 9-11 with a 3.25 ERA in 33 starts. Still, his 5.1 bWAR led a White Sox team that lost 94 games and would have finished last in the American League West if not for the expansion Pilots.
Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #146
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (26): 1964-89
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2023 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs High Number #ROA-TJ
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 428 in the Beckett online database as of 11/25/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times. I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.
Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders. I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500. This card was the 117th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost a little over $2.
The Card / White Sox Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This is one of the better-looking cards in the set, and John's pose works well with the floating name and position circle. The only thing that could be improved upon is if John had remembered to take the ball out of his glove while miming a pitch. The back of the card gives accolades to his recent success with the White Sox. A veteran of seven seasons when this card appeared, collectors likely would not predict he'd pitch for 20 more years.
Accuracy Index: John's card scores a solid +5.
1969 Season
John slumped a little following a successful 1968 campaign, going 9-11 with a 3.25 ERA in 33 starts. Still, his 5.1 bWAR led a White Sox team that lost 94 games and would have finished last in the American League West if not for the expansion Pilots.
|
|
|
|
|
First Mainstream Card: 1964 Topps #146
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (26): 1964-89
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 2023 Topps Heritage Real One Autographs High Number #ROA-TJ
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 428 in the Beckett online database as of 11/25/24.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia
No comments:
Post a Comment