May 25, 2012

BP Unfiltered

This Tommy John Surgery Thing Could Catch On

by Ben Lindbergh

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In late July of 2008, a few days after Tim Hudson walked off a mound in Miami with elbow discomfort after holding the Marlins scoreless for six innings, doctors discovered that his ulnar collateral ligament had two tears—one partial, one complete. On August 8, Hudson had Tommy John surgery. On that day, in Pensacola, Florida, Dr. James Andrews opened up Hudson's elbow, removed his ulnar collateral ligament, and transplanted a tendon from another part of his body that was also opened up. There were drills and staples and sutures. There was general anesthesia and blood and that groggy feeling you get in the recovery room. Then there were months and months of healing and rehab and re-learning how to throw. 

And then there was Tim Hudson with a new scar, a slightly different anatomy, and almost exactly the same stats he had before the surgery.

There might be something to this whole "Tommy John surgery" idea, after all.

Ben Lindbergh is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @benlindbergh
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