Tommy John has endured the dreaded wait many instances since debuting on the Baseball Corridor of Fame poll in 1995.
The previous Dodgers southpaw — the primary participant to bear what’s now referred to as Tommy John surgical procedure — remained eligible till 2009 however by no means acquired greater than 31.7% of the 75% required for election. John then shuffled by means of the enlargement period and trendy baseball ballots twice apiece, getting spurned by the voting committees.
On Sunday at 4:30 p.m., John will study the newest end result after one other vote.
“If I had a say, I would vote me in,” John mentioned Friday in a telephone interview from his Florida residence. “But I don’t.”
John, together with Steve Garvey — a former Dodgers first baseman and the 1974 Nationwide League most respected participant — are two of the eight candidates on the Traditional Baseball Period poll, which helps get ignored gamers of previous generations elected. John and Garvey donned Dodger blue collectively from 1972 to 1978.
The Historic Overview Committee, appointed by the Baseball Writers of America Assn., compiles the Traditional Baseball Period poll from gamers whose greatest achievements occurred earlier than 1980. Eligible gamers will need to have performed 10 or extra seasons.
Dr. Frank Jobe first carried out the left-hander’s elbow surgical procedure on John in 1974, birthing the ligament-replacement process commonplace right this moment. The Corridor of Fame honored Jobe and John collectively throughout its 2013 induction ceremony.
Dodgers pitcher Tommy John celebrates after the ultimate out of 1977 Nationwide League Championship Collection towards the Philadelphia Phillies.
(Related Press)
“I had the right doctor at the right time and I was in the right place,” John mentioned. “I pitched and never missed a start after I came back.”
Whereas the now 81-year-old could also be greatest recognized for the surgical procedure, John spent 26 seasons within the majors, which tied a report till Corridor of Famer Nolan Ryan reached his twenty seventh season. John, a four-time All-Star, tallied a 288-231 report with a 3.34 earned-run common, 2,245 strikeouts and 61.6 wins above alternative (WAR), in response to Baseball Reference, with a few of his greatest seasons coming at Chavez Ravine.
“Twenty-six years, 288 wins and [an MLB-record] 188 no decisions,” John mentioned when requested how the committee ought to worth profession longevity. “Your arm was in good shape, and you must be doing something right or you wouldn’t be going out there every five days.”
The place John might battle with voters, as he has in years previous, is with strikeouts and wins above alternative — lagging behind most earlier pitching inductees from his period.
Jay Jaffe, the writer of “The Cooperstown Casebook,” mentioned the three,000-strikeout mark usually is linked with the 300-win milestone, making John’s candidacy much less seemingly contemplating he has neither.
“Maybe there’s part of that rests on, how much credit does Tommy John deserve versus Dr. Frank Jobe?” mentioned Jaffe, who’s written in regards to the Corridor of Fame since 2001 and is a senior baseball author at FanGraphs. “The guy who actually had the technical expertise and the imagination to pull off the surgery.”
Jaffe added that whereas he’s leaning towards John being denied election, he hopes if John will get elected, it’s whereas he’s nonetheless alive to take part within the induction ceremony.
“I’ve marinated the arguments for 20-plus years,” Jaffe mentioned. “I would rather he get in while he’s still here.
On the other hand, Garvey is closer to a certain no, Jaffe said.
Former Dodgers pitchers Tommy John, left, and Orel Hershiser attend a memorial for their late friend, Dr. Frank Jobe at Dodger Stadium in April 2014.
(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)
Garvey, who most recently lost his run for a U.S. Senate seat, was a 10-time All-Star who hit .294 and 272 home runs across 19 seasons. He was a 1981 World Series champion and played in the storied infield alongside Ron Cey, Davey Lopes and Bill Russell from 1973 to 1981.
“There’s a real junk position with how Garvey was valued traditionally in his day and how we see him now,” mentioned Jaffe, who invented JAWS, a widely-used wins above alternative metric for evaluating Corridor of Fame worthiness. “Having looked at dozens and dozens of other very good first basemen who followed in this wake that were more valuable … I’m kind of dismissive of him as a candidate.”
If it was as much as John, nevertheless, he’d prefer to see himself and his former teammate enshrined in Cooperstown come Sunday.
“He was an excellent teammate,” John mentioned of Garvey. “That would be fine by me.”
