Elbow Tomb

Frank Jobe, who laughed at those who derided him for hoarding cadaver tendons, has died at the age of 89. The pioneering orthopedic surgeon figured out how to give Major League Baseball an extra 14 years of Tommy John by replacing the ulnar collateral ligament in the surgery that would bear the pitcher’s name. Before the surgery in 1974, John’s career high in a season was 16 wins and he made 1 All-Star Game appearance. After, he was a 3-time 20-game winner and made 3 more All-Star Games. Why Jobe didn’t offer it to Sandy Koufax whose career was ended by a similar injury is a mystery for the ages. The procedure has become so prevalent that it’s estimated that one-third of all pitchers have had it done. In his honor, half the pitchers in spring training this year have gone under the knife. Jobe also performed the first major reconstructive shoulder procedure, which saved Orel Hershiser’s career in 1990. All well and good, but Jobe also landed in a glider on the beach at Normandy as a medic in World War II, was in the Battle of the Bulge and was captured at Bastogne then escaped, and earned the Bronze Star Medal, Combat Medical Badge, and Glider Badge.