67-year old Tommy John should already be in Baseball’s Hall of Fame.  In his 26 years on the mound, John pitched in 760 games (700 starts) in which he was 288-231 with 4 saves, a 3.34 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.  Tommy John tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow in 1974.  He asked the doctors what his chances of ever pitching again were.  Dr. Frank Jobe told his that without surgery his chances were 0.0%.  With a radical new surgery (a.k.a. Tommy John Surgery) his chances would be 10%.  John elected to have the surgery on September 25, 1974.  Dr. Jobe took a tendon from John’s right forearm and he placed it in his left elbow to replace the torn tendon.  John missed all of the 1975 season but he came back in 1976 for the Dodgers.  He pitched in 31 games (all starts) for the Dodgers in 1976 and he was 10-10 with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP.  John went on to pitch 14 seasons after his surgery and he was 164-125!  The Hall of Fame voters need to look past the fact that John fell 12 wins short of an automatic punch ticket to the Hall.  They need to realize what John’s big risk did to help pitchers as that surgery is done quite a bit these days saving other pitcher’s careers.