Just over a week ago, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum inducted seven new members to its ranks in the idyllic village of Cooperstown, New York. Uber-popular Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz garnered most of the headlines, but among the other inductees was a long-since-deceased gentleman named Bud Fowler who was enshrined under the Executive category for his work growing the game of baseball among black players in the late 1800s and early 1900s. A worthy honoree to be sure, Fowler joins 38 other enshrinees identified as Executives.
As I read about Fowler, and many of the other Executives who’ve been enshrined through the years (including such baseball luminaries as Rube Foster, Ford Frick, and Branch Rickey and fellow 2022 inductee, Buck O’Neil) it occurred to me that one individual – even moreso, I’d wager, than Pat Gillick, John Schuerholz, or Tom Yawkey – is deserving of a plaque revered Plaque Gallery. His name is Dr. Frank Jobe.
Dr. Jobe’s name may not be familiar to the current generation of baseball fans, but his most-famous client, pitcher Tommy John, is likely known by all. Jobe was the surgeon who first performed the unlnar collateral ligament replacement surgery in 1974 that forever more became known as Tommy John Surgery. Most estimates today peg somewhere between 25% and 33% of Major League pitchers as having had this once rare procedure.
Shoot, a pretty decent roster could be made of the Tommy John Surgery MLB alumni which would include a starting rotation of Justin Verlander (2020), Noah Syndergaard (2020), Jacob deGrom (2010), Yu Darvish (2015), and Adam Wainright (2010). Your starting DH could be either two-way sensation Shohei Ohtani (2018) or Hall of Famer Paul Molitor (1984). Salvador Perez (2019) or Todd Hundley (1997) could catch, Corey Seager (2018) can play shortstop, Matt Holliday (2001) the outfield, and Hall of Famer John Smoltz (2000) can handle the closing. With that rotation, you could totally have an Eddie Feigner King and his Court type situation and limit the number of defenders required.
All of this begs the question: Who has been more influential on MLB, Dr. Frank Jobe or Morgan Bulkeley?
If you, like me, needed to read Mr. Bulkeley’s bio a couple of times to understand who he was and what he did for baseball, I’d suggest we have our answer: Dr. Frank Jobe deserves a plaque in Cooperstown’s hallowed halls. That surgery he performed on a 13-year veteran lefthander, Tommy John, back in 1974 has forever impacted MLB. John went on to pitch longer following the surgery than he had before having it. Imagine what Sandy Koufax could have accomplished had Dr. Jobe been around a decade prior?
Upon reviewing the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum‘s website, the best chance for Dr. Jobe to have his visage hang in the Plaque Gallery resides with that entity’s Board of Directors which has the right to “revoke, alter or amend these rules at any time.” In this case, the Board must modify who is eligible and not be exclusive to players, managers, executives, and/or umpires. In other words, the Board must evolve and recognize the impact science has and will have on the sport.
If you, like me, believe Dr. Jobe should be more than just “honored” – as he was by the Hall in 2013 – but rather enshrined, I invite you to contact Jane Forbes Clark, Chair of the Board, at 25 Main Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326. The full Board roster is found here.