Former MLB pitcher Tommy John dies at age 83

Tommy John, the longtime Major League baseball pitcher whose name is forever linked to the groundbreaking elbow surgery that saved his career and those of countless others since, has died, officials said Sunday. John is survived by his wife and three children, Tommy, Travis and Tamara, according to a statement from the Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the southpaw’s six major league teams. John had been in hospice care, Reuters reported last week. “Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated,” Dodgers President Stan Kasten said in a statement. “His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come,” Kasten said. John will be best known for years with the Dodgers and New York Yankees, two of the sports’s most famed franchises. The procedure had never been performed before and was revolutionary at the time.

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