Background and career
Thomas Edward John Jr. (May 22, 1943 – August 15, 2026), nicknamed "the Bionic Man", was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 26 seasons between 1963 and 1989. He played for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, California Angels, and Oakland Athletics. He was a four-time MLB All-Star and has the second-most wins (288) of any pitcher since 1900 not in the Hall of Fame. Known for his longevity, John was an Opening Day starter six times – three for the White Sox (1966, 1970, and 1971) and three times for the Yankees (1981, 1982, and 1989).
At the age of 18, in 1961, John was signed by the Indians, who were impressed with his curveball. After three seasons in the minor leagues for them, he was called up for the first time in 1963. He pitched two seasons for Cleveland before getting traded to the White Sox, with whom he spent seven seasons. He established himself as a major league starter in 1965 and became Chicago's Opening Day starter in 1966. In 1968, he finished fifth in the American League (AL) with a 1.98 earned run average (ERA) and was named to his first All-Star team, though he missed the end of the season after he was injured in a fight with Dick McAuliffe. In 1971, pitching coach Johnny Sain tried to have John throw a slider more, but John had his highest ERA since 1964 and was traded to the Dodgers for Dick Allen after the season. He won 11 games in 1972 with the Dodgers, then led the National League (NL) in winning percentage over the next two seasons (.696 in 1973 and .813 in 1974). In 1974, though, he suffered a potentially career-ending injury when he tore his ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in a game against the Montreal Expos. Frank Jobe, the Dodger physician, performed ligament replacement surgery on John later that year. He missed the 1975 season recovering from surgery, but he became the first pitcher to successfully return to baseball following such surgery. "Tommy John" surgery has since become a common procedure among baseball pitchers, with 35.3% of MLB pitchers who were active in 2023 having received it at some point during their careers.
John had a 10–10 record his first year back from recovery. In 1977, at age 34, John had his first career 20-win season, going 20–7 with a 2.78 ERA as the Dodgers won the NL West and reached the 1977 World Series. He helped the Dodgers return to the World Series in 1978 with a 17–10 record before leaving for the Yankees as a free agent. With the Yankees, John posted 20-win seasons in 1979 and 1980; he was an All-Star in those years as well as in 1978, his final year with the Dodgers. He appeared in three World Series contested between the Dodgers and Yankees, his only World Series appearances, and pitched for the losing team in all three albeit with a 2.67 ERA in 33.2 World Series innings pitched. He was traded to the California Angels in 1982, for whom he made two starts in the AL Championship Series. He remained with the team until 1985, when he was released, though he spent the second half of the season pitching for the Oakland Athletics. Unsigned to begin 1986, it appeared that John's career might be over, but injuries to Yankee pitchers prompted New York to re-sign him. John won 13 games for the Yankees in 1987, then, at age 45, became the oldest player in baseball in 1988 following Phil Niekro's retirement. In 1989, he tied Deacon McGuire's record for most seasons pitched (26, later broken by Nolan Ryan, who ended with 27) before retiring.
He served as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins and the Yankees in the 1990s, then managed the Bridgeport Bluefish from 2007 through the first half of the 2009 season. After retiring, he served as a motivational speaker and also founded the "Let's Do It" Foundation, dedicated to raising awareness about suicides and preventing them.
John was born on May 22, 1943, in Terre Haute, Indiana, where he grew up. As a youth, he often played sandlot ball with other kids, either at Spencer F. Ball Park or Woodrow Wilson field. Arley Andrews, a former minor league pitcher and a friend of John's father, taught John to throw a curveball, which would be John's main pitch. John was an outstanding baseball and basketball player at Gerstmeyer High School in Terre Haute. He had a 28–2 record as a pitcher. Athletics did not get in the way of his schoolwork, as John graduated as Gerstmeyer's 1961 valedictorian. School faculty forbade John from delivering a valedictory address because of his stutter. Several colleges recruited John as a basketball player, including the University of Kentucky, but John also caught the eye of Cleveland Indians' scout Johnny Schulte, who worried that John needed more of a fastball to succeed but considered his curveball already a major league pitch. John picked baseball and signed with the Indians after graduating, getting assigned to the Dubuque Packers of the Class D Midwest League.
John had a 10–4 record in 1961 but had some trouble with the Charleston Indians of the Class A Eastern League in 1962. "I was rearing back on every pitch and firing with all my strength at the strike zone," he said. "As a result I kept getting behind in the ball-and-strike count, often running it to three balls and no strikes, so I just had to put my fastball right over the plate and get it creamed." This led to a lot of walks, but player-coach Steve Jankowski worked with him, suggesting that John throw less hard so that he would have more control. The alterations helped John get called up to the Class AAA Jacksonville Suns of the International League during the year, and John won two games for them with the playoffs. He started 1963 with Jacksonville, got sent down to Charleston, went 9–2 with a 1.61 ERA for the West Virginian Indians, and got called up to the major leagues in September at the age of twenty.
On September 6, 1963, John started what would become a 26-year major league career, allowing one unearned run in one inning of a 7–2 loss to the Washington Senators. Used at first as a reliever, he finished the year with three starts. Though his record was 0–2, his earned run average (ERA) was 2.21. Cleveland manager Birdie Tebbetts called his fastball "deceptive."
In his first start of 1964, on May 3, John threw a shutout against the Baltimore Orioles for his first major league win in the second game of a doubleheader. He won two of his first three games but then lost eight decisions in a row and got sent to AAA (now the Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League) in July. Indians' pitching coach Early Wynn had been trying to get John to throw a slider, but John altered his grip, affecting his control. He returned to throwing just a fastball and a curveball in the minors and was called up for a few games in September by the Indians. After the season, he was sent to the Chicago White Sox as part of a three-way trade between Cleveland, Chicago, and the Kansas City Athletics that sent Rocky Colavito to Cleveland.
John's first appearances with the White Sox were in relief. During the first half of the 1965 season, he and Juan Pizarro alternatively spent time as Chicago's fifth starter in the rotation. By the second half, however, he had cemented himself within the team's starting rotation. On September 25, he held the New York Yankees to one run and hit a go-ahead home run against Bill Stafford to give himself a 3–1 victory. In 39 games (27 starts), he had a 14–7 record, a 3.09 ERA, 126 strikeouts, 58 walks, and 162 hits allowed in 183+2⁄3 innings.
In 1966, manager Eddie Stanky had made John his Opening Day starter. He tied for the American League (AL) lead with five shutouts during the season. Two of these, May 7 against the Detroit Tigers and August 12 against the California Angels, came on days when the White Sox only scored one run for him. In 34 games (33 starts), he had a 14–11 record, a 2.62 ERA, 138 strikeouts, 57 walks, and 195 hits in 223 innings. His 2.62 ERA placed fifth in the league, and his 10 complete games tied for ninth (with Mudcat Grant).
Once again in 1967, John led the AL in shutouts, this time with six. He had a season-high nine strikeouts in a shutout of the Senators on June 13. On July 4, he shut out the defending-World Series champion Orioles, limiting Baltimore to two hits. On July 22, he left a game against the Athletics after facing just two batters and did not pitch again until August 20. He was plagued in the season's second half by a severe gastrointestinal virus that caused him to lose 28 pounds. At season's end, his record was just 10–13, but his 2.47 ERA ranked fourth in the league. He had 110 strikeouts, 47 walks, and 143 hits allowed in 178+1⁄3 innings.
1968 started out as John's best season thus far in his career. On June 30, he shut out the Tigers in a 12–0 victory. With a 1.78 ERA in the first half, he was named to the All-Star Game for the first time during his major league tenure. Another highlight came against Cleveland August 9, when he held the Indians scoreless for seven innings and scored the only run of the game. He had a 1.98 ERA through 25 starts with the White Sox in 1968. On August 22, with a 3–2 count on Dick McAuliffe, John threw ball four over McAuliffe's head. An angry McAuliffe charged the mound and started a fight between the two players. McAuliffe was fined and suspended; John was not punished, but he tore some shoulder ligaments in the scuffle and missed the rest of the season with an injury. Thirty years later, McAuliffe said in an interview that he still thought John was trying to hit him in that game. White Sox' general manager (GM) Ed Short noted that this was unlikely given that the pitch before the fight came on a 3–2 count, resulting in a walk for McAuliffe. Though pitcher ERAs were down across baseball in 1968, John's still ranked fifth in the league. He had a 10–5 record and gave up just 135 hits in 177+1⁄3 innings.
John recovered in time for the 1969 season, though Gary Peters got the Opening Day start, with John second in the rotation. In his first start of the year, against the Athletics on April 9, John allowed only four hits in a complete game shutout, as Chicago won 3–0. He held the Indians scoreless for 7+2⁄3 innings on May 10, earning the victory as the White Sox prevailed by a score of 4–0. On June 20, in the first game of a doubleheader, he held the Angels to one run over 10 innings but received a no-decision in a 12-inning, 2–1 defeat. John was 6–11 on September 1, but he won his last three decisions to finish the season 9–11. In one of those wins, on September 19, he allowed eight hits but no runs in a 7–0 victory over the Kansas City Royals. In 33 starts, John had a 3.25 ERA, 128 strikeouts, 90 walks, and 230 hits allowed in 232+1⁄3 innings.
In 1970, John got the Opening Day start but struggled, giving up six runs (five earned) in 4+2⁄3 innings as the Twins beat the White Sox 12–0 on April 7. In fact, he lost his first five starts before defeating the Orioles on April 30. On June 12, he allowed only two hits in a complete game shutout over the Senators, as the White Sox won the game 6–0. He lost four starts in a row after that game, then won his next five decisions. On July 26, he allowed seven hits in a complete game shutout of the Tigers, which the White Sox won 4–0. In the first game of a doubleheader against the Yankees on August 23, he allowed only four hits in a complete game shutout that the White Sox won 2–0. John finished the year with a 12–17 record. His 17 losses tied teammate Gerry Janeski for third in the AL, and teammate Joe Horlen was fifth with 16. John also finished fourth in walks (101, behind Sam McDowell's 131, Mickey Lolich's 109, and Jim Rooker's 102), and he led the AL in wild pitches, throwing what would be a career-high 17. His ERA was 3.27, he struck out 138 hitters, and he had fewer hits allowed (253) than innings pitched (269+1⁄3). Despite his losing record, he was the only Chicago pitcher to start 10 or more games and post an ERA under 4.75.
