Tommy John Surgery

[Pete Incaviglia]

Do you have to explain what it is every time you mention it in a story?

I've pared it down to this: Bob Smith had Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm.

Is that all I need? Or do I even need that much?

I'm just getting tired of repeating it for every pitcher who has had it.

 

[TwoGloves]

Shoulder surgery.

 

[Chi City 81]

Shoulder surgery.

Elbow, actually.

 

[buckweaver]

Shoulder surgery.

No.

Ligament-replacement surgery in the elbow. Shoulder has nothing to do with it.

 

[zebracoy]

Do you have to explain what it is every time you mention it in a story?

I've pared it down to this: Bob Smith had Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm.

Is that all I need? Or do I even need that much?

I'm just getting tired of repeating it for every pitcher who has had it.

I think that works just fine.

 

[fishwrapper]

Sub in "plantar fasciitis."

 

[old_tony]

Do you have to explain what it is every time you mention it in a story?

I've pared it down to this: Bob Smith had Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm.

Is that all I need? Or do I even need that much?

I'm just getting tired of repeating it for every pitcher who has had it.

Actually, if you say "surgery to repair (and it's actually to replace) the ulnar collateral ligament," I'm not so sure you need to say "Tommy John" in front of "surgery." That's not actually an official term as much as it's called that because he was the first well-known pitcher to have it done and revive his career.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Do you have to explain what it is every time you mention it in a story?

I've pared it down to this: Bob Smith had Tommy John surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his throwing arm.

Is that all I need? Or do I even need that much?

I'm just getting tired of repeating it for every pitcher who has had it.

Actually, if you say "surgery to repair (and it's actually to replace) the ulnar collateral ligament," I'm not so sure you need to say "Tommy John" in front of "surgery." That's not actually an official term as much as it's called that because he was the first well-known pitcher to have it done and revive his career.

I would probably leave "Tommy John" in since most readers know what that is, but they likely don't realize it's to replace the ulnar collateral ligament.

 

[TwoGloves]

Wow. Shows you what I know. All these years I thought it was his shoulder. Either way, I'd just say elbow surgery.

 

[Barsuk]

I think the way you have it is about right. Many people will know what "Tommy John surgery" is, and those who don't get a brief but sufficient explanation.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

"Elbow surgery" isn't adequate. You can have elbow surgery and pitch a month later. When you have the ligament replacement ("Tommy John") you're looking at a minimum of one year and probably closer to two years as far as getting back to normal -- if that happens at all.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

I think the way you have it is about right. Many people will know what "Tommy John surgery" is, and those who don't get a brief but sufficient explanation.

WFW

No soup for you, TwoGloves ...

 

[spnited]

Wow. Shows you what I know. All these years I thought it was his shoulder. Either way, I'd just say elbow surgery.

I seriously hope you are not a sportswriter.

 

[TwoGloves]

Wow. Shows you what I know. All these years I thought it was his shoulder. Either way, I'd just say elbow surgery.

I seriously hope you are not a sportswriter.

No, I'm a sports writer. Two words, not one there Einstein. Not a doctor either. When Tommy John had his surgery, I was about 10 years old. I never really checked into his surgery much since I never had to write about it. I just seemed to think it had something to do with his rotator cuff, not his elbow. Shoot me. I guess that means after 25 years I've been in the wrong business since I'm not an expert on Tommy ****ing John's 1970s injury. On another note, how long have you been a bitter, know-it-all prick?

 

[BYH]

Sub in "plantar fasciitis."

This made me laugh.

 

[Chi City 81]

Wow. Shows you what I know. All these years I thought it was his shoulder. Either way, I'd just say elbow surgery.

I seriously hope you are not a sportswriter.

No, I'm a sports writer. Two words, not one there Einstein. Not a doctor either. When Tommy John had his surgery, I was about 10 years old. I never really checked into his surgery much since I never had to write about it. I just seemed to think it had something to do with his rotator cuff, not his elbow. Shoot me. I guess that means after 25 years I've been in the wrong business since I'm not an expert on Tommy ****ing John's 1970s injury. On another note, how long have you been a bitter, know-it-all prick?

93 years?

 

[buckweaver]

The Google (and, to a lesser extent, The Wiki) precludes age and/or experience from being a legitimate excuse for ignorance.

If you have time to post on a message board, you have time to look it up.

"Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."

 

[Moderator1]

Under my old boss, we were not allowed to say Tommy John surgery because his surgery was a while ago and it was assuming the readers knew exactly what it meant. So you said ligament replacement surgery in his elbow (or whatever is being done). If you wanted to go on and explain that it is often called Tommy John surgery and why, that's fine.
It is a rule I kept in place during my reign of terror.

had Tommy John surgery means nothing to the average reader.

 

[Nathan Scott Phillips]

Under my old boss, we were not allowed to say Tommy John surgery because his surgery was a while ago and it was assuming the readers knew exactly what it meant. So you said ligament replacement surgery in his elbow (or whatever is being done). If you wanted to go on and explain that it is often called Tommy John surgery and why, that's fine.
It is a rule I kept in place during my reign of terror.

had Tommy John surgery means nothing to the average reader.

But any baseball fan hears or reads it at least once a week and many probably have no idea what it is. They do know that it's relatively serious and keeps you out for a year. Ligament replacement surgery means nothing to them either, since a lot of people have no idea what a ligament is. We had this discussion too, and unlike most medical terms, chose the shorthand rather than using technically accurate language. There was a time when our style insisted on calling them magnetic resonance imaging exams, but now we're allowed to use MRI exams, because more readers will have run into the acronym than the actual name for the procedure.

 

[Moderator1]

So just say Tommy John because they don't know ligaments?
If I tell my wife that a pitcher just had Tommy John surgery, she'll look at me like I'm nuts and ask questions. As she should. And this is someone who will soon have a Phd, not an ordinary dumbass.
If I say he had a ligament replaced in his elbow, she will understand.

More people know what a ligament is than know who Tommy John is and what his surgery was - regular folks that you want reading, too, not just baseball geeks like us.