Overview
- John died Saturday night at his home in Bradenton, Florida, his agent and major‑league clubs confirmed after he had spent time in hospice care.
- He won 288 major‑league games over a 26‑season career and returned to pitch 14 more seasons after the surgery, adding 164 victories after the operation.
- The procedure was performed by Dodgers team physician Dr. Frank Jobe on Sept. 25, 1974, when Jobe replaced John’s torn ulnar collateral ligament with a tendon from his forearm and gave roughly 1‑in‑100 odds of a return.
- No official cause of death has been released, though multiple outlets report John recently received treatment for a recurrence of bladder cancer and he issued a farewell message on Aug. 8.
- Beyond his on‑field record, John’s name lives on in the surgery that transformed sports medicine by allowing thousands of pitchers at all levels to continue their careers, and teams and league officials have issued tributes while funeral plans remain private.