Monday, March 1, 2021

#208 Tommy John - Chicago White Sox


Thomas Edward John
Chicago White Sox
Pitcher

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Left  Height:  6'3"  Weight:  180
Born:  May 22, 1943, Terre Haute, IN
Signed:  Signed by the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent, June 12, 1961
Major League Teams:  Cleveland Indians 1963-1964; Chicago White Sox 1965-1971; Los Angeles Dodgers 1972-1974, 1976-1978; New York Yankees 1979-1982; California Angels 1982-1985; Oakland Athletics 1985; New York Yankees 1986-1989

Tommy John was a veteran of 26 major league seasons, split between his first 12 seasons and his final 14 seasons by the pioneering arm surgery that now unofficially bears his name.  His longevity is topped only by Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan and Cap Anson, who both played for 27 seasons.  He was the opening day starting pitcher for the White Sox in 1966 and the Yankees in 1989, a four-time All-Star and a 20-game winner three times in 1977, 1979 and 1980.  John tore his ulnar collateral ligament in 1974 and underwent an experimental surgery to replace the ligament in his left elbow with a tendon from his right arm.  After a lengthy recovery and rehabilitation, John returned to the Dodgers to start the 1976 season.  He'd win 164 more games, throwing over 2,500 innings following the surgery.

December 26, 2020 - Masked up at Mimi's
John's reconstructed arm allowed him to pitch until the age of 46 with the Yankees.  He finished with a career record of 288-231 over 760 games, a 3.34 ERA and 2,245 strikeouts.  His 288 wins are currently 26th on the all-time list with all other pitchers above him from the modern era, other than Roger Clemens, currently in the Hall of Fame.  Following his playing career, John coached in the minor league systems for the Expos and Yankees and managed the Bridgeport Bluefish in the independent Atlantic League between 2007 and 2009.

Building the Set
December 26, 2020 from Wenonah, NJ - Card #214
My Mom needed a few additional Christmas presents for her oldest grandson Doug, and I gladly offered to help with five star cards purchased from Gar Miller Cards in Wenonah, New Jersey.  I had recently learned that not only was Mr. Miller a hobby legend, but that he was still actively selling cards from my neck of the woods in South Jersey.  We exchanged e-mail pleasantries, and I'm looking forward to buying more cards from our set from him in the future.  Doug was more excited about the video games he had received from his Mimi for Christmas, but to his credit he recognized the players on each of the five cards she had gifted him.  I've already featured the Jim Bunning (#20) card and I'll feature the next three cards in upcoming posts.

The Card / White Sox Team Set
Topps can be partially forgiven for the bad centering job here, as they were trying to cover up the Indians logo on the front of John's jersey.  On January 20, 1965, John was part of an eight-player, three-team trade that saw him depart the Indians for the White Sox.  John, Johnny Romano (#17) and Tommie Agee (#166) went from the Indians to the White Sox, Cam Carreon (#578) went from the White Sox to the Indians, Mike Hershberger (#89), Jim Landis (#376) and Fred Talbot (#58) went from the White Sox to the Athletics and finally Rocky Colavito (#380) went from the Athletics to the Indians.  I've mentioned it on this blog before, but I'm impressed by Topps taking the time to update John's team designation here for a trade that had happened that January, months before this card's release.

This is John's first solo Topps card, as he shared a Rookie Stars card in the 1964 set with Bob Chance (#224).  The back of the card mentions the trade and John's "top big league thrill," the shutout he threw on May 3, 1964 against the Orioles.

1965 Season
The White Sox finished in second place in the American League with John finishing second on the team with 14 wins, behind closer Eddie Fisher's (#328) 15 wins.  John was the fourth best starter in a pitching rotation that consisted of Joe Horlen (#480), John Buzhardt (#458) and Gary Peters (#430).  In 39 games, John went 14-7 with a 3.09 ERA.

1964 Topps #146
1970 Topps #180
1975 Topps #47
1981 Topps #550
1989 Topps #359

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1964 Topps #146
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (26):  1964-1989
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2013 Panini Golden Age #134

416 - John non-parallel baseball cards in the Beckett online database as of 2/7/21.

 Sources:  
Baseball Reference
Beckett Database
SABR
The Trading Card Database
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