When I say “ulnar collateral ligament,” how many of you know where that is on your body? How about Tommy John Surgery, ever heard of that procedure? Tommy John was the first of tens of thousands of athletes to have the ulnar collateral ligament of his upper arm/elbow area repaired surgically by this special procedure which now bears his name. The procedure restores strength to the ligament’s affected area/elbow area/upper arm by replacing it with another ligament. And a successful surgery then allows for a return to activities such as throwing a baseball, shooting a basketball, even your golf game. How many pitchers, from high school to the pros, have had Tommy John Surgery? Heck, even catchers, shortstops, and outfielders have the procedure done. The count goes up by one (I think) today because the NY Yankee’s Gerrit Cole is the latest MLB Pitcher to be scheduled to have Tommy John surgery, sidelining him for the entire 2025 MLB season. So, in honor of this setback to Yankee fans everywhere, I give you the latest A to Z Challenge – an alphabet full of current and former Major League Baseball players who have had Tommy John Surgery. Side note, there are several on this list who have had it TWICE!

A – Alcantara, Sandy – Miami Marlins – Starting, dominant pitcher who was out all of 2024

B – Bryce Harper – Philadelphia Phillies – Harper actually came up through the minors as a catcher first, then became an outfielder, and now is a full time 1st baseman

C – Chris Sale – Atlanta Braves – had Tommy John as a member of the Red Sox, a time most of us fans want to forget. We waited a long time for the original Chris Sale to return, he never did.

D – DeGrom, Jacob – Texas Rangers, once a sure fire Hall of Famer, now, not so sure. Way too injury prone.

E – Eovaldi, Nate – Loved and admired by Red Sox fans, sadly on the Texas Rangers, a two time Tommy John-er

F – Fried, Max – former Brave, now NY Yankee

G – Gerrit Cole – this one I feel kinda bad about, because he was always there for Rafael Devers whenever Devers needed to pad his stats, especially home runs

H – Hampton, Mike – short in stature but great pitcher for the NY Mets, Colorado Rockies

I – Isringhausen, Jason – NY Mets had a trio of can’t miss prospect pitchers at one point, Izzy was one of them, ended up being a pretty good closer for the STL Cardinals

J – John Smoltz – Atlanta Braves starter and closer, didn’t matter, Smoltz was lights out no matter how many innings he threw

K – Kopech, Michael – famously traded (with others) from the Red Sox for Chris Sale, who was an All Star with the Chicago White Sox, now a LA Dodger I believe

L – Liriano, Francisco – The Minnesota Twins had Liriano and Johan Santana and did not win a WS with that team???

M – Means, John – Baltimore Orioles LHP who has had a rough rehab on his way back to the big club. Saw him get pretty roughed up last year here in Norfolk.

N – Neagle, Denny – Colorado Rockie and Atlanta Brave LHP, was once a very sought after free agent pitcher. Every team wanted Neagle.

O – Oliver, Darren – Pitched for a ton of teams and had a nice career. Never threw particularly hard, but got a lot of outs out of the bullpen for many teams.

P – Pulsipher, Bill – another of the NY Mets phenoms with Izzy and Paul Wilson. Never quite made it up to the hype.

Q – Nothing comes to mind. Doubtful Dan Quiz had the surgery.

R – Robertson, David – Was a NY Yankee, then a Met, then a whole bunch of other teams. Once pitched in a game at Newport’s Cardines Field.

S – Shohei Ohtani – Does he even need to pitch anymore for the Dodgers? LAD has like 55 starters and Shohei and just bat and steal bases.

T – Tommy John – the man, the myth, the legend.

U – Ulnar collateral ligament – one of the most famous pieces of connective tissue in your body

V – Viola, Frank – “Sweet Music” pitched for the NY Mets, Minnesota Twins, even my Boston Red Sox.

W – Walker Buehler – can’t wait to see with #0 will do in a Red Sox uniform this year. I’m shocked the LAD let him walk

X – Xavier Nady – yes, outfielders have Tommy John Surgery. Nady actually had a nice 15 year run in the MLB for a bunch of teams.

Y – Yates, as in Kirby and Tyler – both have had Tommy John Surgery twice.

Z – Joel Zamaya – famous for going on the disabled list due to his obsessive “Guitar Hero” Xbox play. Ouch, not good.

I backfilled my list with a Google search of players who have had Tommy John Surgery. The list is long, contains many Hall of Famers, and also those that never quite made it back to greatness. One thing is certain, Tommy John Surgery has saved a lot of careers. How did you do with your list? Were you able to come up with an alphabet of players who have had Tommy John Surgery? Let me know if there is a player I missed.