When Frank Jobe considered naming the groundbreaking procedure that would save countless baseball careers, he refused to attach his own surname. Instead, the surgery became known as Tommy John surgery — a triumph not just of sports medicine but of modern medicine itself.

On Sept. 25, 1974, Jobe reconstructed the ulnar collateral ligament in John's pitching elbow using a palmaris longus tendon from the wrist. With only a 1-in-100 chance of success, John became the first to undergo UCL reconstruction. He returned to pitch more than 200 innings in 1976, eventually recording 166 wins and over 2,500 innings post-surgery.

The procedure's impact extends far beyond John. An estimated 40% of major league pitchers today have undergone UCL reconstruction. Legends like Sandy Koufax, John Smoltz, Justin Verlander, Shohei Ohtani, and Jacob deGrom have all benefited from advances stemming from Jobe's pioneering work.

When John died at 83 following a 2024 bladder cancer diagnosis, the sport mourned not just a 288-game winner, but the patient whose name became synonymous with resilience. Every forearm tightness or elbow twinge evokes his legacy. As Jobe once said, "the man did all the hard work."