Thomas Edward John Jr. (born May 22, 1943) is a former left-handed pitcher

Pitcher

In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...

 in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 whose 288 career victories

Win (baseball)

In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...

 rank as the seventh highest total among left-handers in major league history. He is also known for the revolutionary surgery

Tommy John surgery

Tommy John surgery, known in medical practice as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, is a surgical procedure in which a ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body...

, now named after him, which was performed on a damaged ligament

Ligament

In anatomy, the term ligament is used to denote any of three types of structures. Most commonly, it refers to fibrous tissue that connects bones to other bones and is also known as articular ligament, articular larua, fibrous ligament, or true ligament.Ligament can also refer to:* Peritoneal...

 in his pitching arm.
An outstanding basketball player at Gerstmeyer High School in Terre Haute, where he held the city single game scoring record, John was originally signed by the Cleveland Indians

Cleveland Indians

The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

, making his major league debut in .