Youd be hard pressed to find a man whos had a greater impact on baseball over the past 40 years. Justin Verlander Jersey . Were not talking about Hank Aaron, or Bob Gibson or Roger Clemens, Cal Ripken Jr. or Barry Bonds. Were talking about Dr. Frank Jobe who passed away Thursday night at the age of 88. He is the surgeon who pioneered the ulnar collateral ligament transplant surgery that saved so many elbows and prolonged the careers of so many players, pitchers and position players alike. Dr. Jobe first performed his landmark surgery in 1974. He was actually in the stands watching at Dodger Stadium when Tommy John, for whom the operation will forever be known, blew out his elbow in a game against the Expos. John was out of action for 18 months after the surgery. But he not only returned, he flourished. Tommy John was named Comeback Player of the Year in 1976 and went on to win another 164 games with the Dodgers and Yankees before retiring at age 46. He finnished with 288 victories and a 3.34 ERA. He appeared in three All-Star Games after his surgery. He was never the best pitcher of his generation or anything close to that, but his career numbers and the fact he rebounded from this operation the way he did should in the Hall of Fame in my mind. Just how important has this operation been? Well before last season, 124 of the 360 pitchers on the opening day rosters had undergone at least one "Tommy John". Its not just the pitchers though, whove gone through this career-saving surgery. Carl Crawford, Rafael Furcal, ex-Jay Kelly Johnson and current Jays catching prospect A.J Jimenez have all undergone this elbow surgery. The first Blue Jays pitcher I could find who had the operation was David Wells back in 1985. But the list grows from there. Jimmy Key in 1988, former skipper John Farrell in 1991 while he was pitching for Cleveland and the list goes on. You have Billy Koch, A.J Burnett while he was with Florida, Jason Frasor who had it done twice, B.J. Ryan in 2007, Dustin McGowan, Shaun Marcum, Josh Johnson while with Florida and Chris Carpenter with St. Louis in 2007. All owe their careers to Dr. Jobe and those surgeons who have followed his trailblazing path. The disturbing thing is the way elbow injuries have increased. There were 24 documented "Tommy John" surgeries in 2013, including those of Mets star pitching prospect Matt Harvey and Blue Jays journeyman pitcher Ramon Ortiz, who underwent the operation for a second time. But the worst year by far was 2012, when there were 46 "Tommy Johns" including four to Blue Jays Drew Hutchison, Kyle Drabek, his second, Luis Perez and the aforementioned A.J. Jimenez. There are two known pitchers who actually had three elbow ligament transplant surgeries. Jose Rijo who helped spark the Reds to victory in the 1990 World Series and Jason Isringhausen, who turned from a top starting prospect with the Mets to a standout reliever later in his career. Rijo is truly a remarkable story. After being named an All-Star with the Reds in 1995, he suffered a serious elbow injury and was out of the game for five full seasons. He finally battled back in 2001 as a reliever with Cincinnati. It was said after three "Tommy John" surgeries and two other arm operations, his elbow had almost no ligament left. But ironically, the arthritis in his elbow, the scar tissue and the fact he had built up the muscles in his forearm to such an extent, he was still able to throw against all odds. Rijo retired in 2002 but not before winning the final ball game ever played at old Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. One pitcher who doesnt need to worry about his ulnar collateral ligament is Blue Jays knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Thats because he was born without one. Like Rijo, Dickey has defied the odds with many a doctor saying Dickey shouldnt be able to pitch without that ligament in his elbow. Yet two years ago, he won the Cy Young Award with the Mets and is still going strong with the Blue Jays at 39. At least 85 per cent of "Tommy John" patients make a complete recovery and in most cases, their elbows are stronger than ever. However, there are some who dont make it all the way back. Blue Jays closer B.J Ryan was never the same after his surgery in 2007 and was out of the game within a couple of years. But cases like that are the exception rather than the rule and the game would be a pale shadow of itself without the medical marvels of Dr. Frank Jobe. As a footnote, we should also mention Dr. Jobe pioneered a surgical technique on another Dodgers star, Orel Hershiser. It was a less invasive shoulder procedure that reduced the risk of collateral damage to the shoulder structure and sped up the recovery time. This and That Phillies infielder Freddy Galves will one day be the answer to a trivia question. On Thursday, he became the first player to hit a home run off the Yankees Japanese phenom Masahiro Tanaka. I try not to get too caught up in the struggles of pitchers in spring training since theyre often just working on command or one specific pitch but Ive got to admit on Wednesday, I was a little bit concerned when Brandon Morrow gave up five runs on six hits over three innings to the Pirates. Then I noticed on the same day, White Sox ace Chris Sale gave up six runs on six hits and a walk in just 2-2/3 innings against the Padres. Then, the Cubs Jeff Samardzija surrendered three runs on four hits in three innings in a 7-5 loss to Colorado. At that point, I realized its too early to be making hard judgements. Josh Reddick Jersey . - Young and old. Jeff Bagwell Jersey . "Hopefully well get all this out of the way," he said, "and everyone will be healthy the rest of the year." Zimmerman was placed on the 15-day disabled list Sunday and is expected to miss between four to six weeks. http://www.astrosteamproshop.com/Customized/ . Irving played 10 minutes Sunday night before going to the locker room. He had two points and four assists, missing all five of his shots. The All-Star game MVP is the top scorer among Eastern Conference point guards with 21.OKLAHOMA CITY -- Kevin Durant displayed his usual dominance as a scorer, and the Thunder supported him with one of their best defensive performances of the season. Durant scored 29 points to help Oklahoma City beat the Sacramento Kings 94-81 on Friday night. Durants high-scoring ways have been wasted at times by the Thunder, who lost 128-119 at Dallas on Tuesday despite 43 points by the NBAs leading scorer. This time, the Thunder held Sacramento to 51 points and 30 per cent shooting through the first three quarters. Durant could have done more damage, but he sat for good with 1:25 left in the third and the Thunder firmly in control. "Lately, weve been much better defensively and offensively," he said. "So, tonight was a good game. We put both sides of the floor together pretty well." Durant has scored at least 25 points in 37 consecutive games, the longest streak since Michael Jordans 40-game run for the Chicago Bulls during the 1986-87 season. Russell Westbrook had 18 points and six assists and Jeremy Lamb added 13 points for the Thunder, who have won five of six. The Thunder have held their opponent to 96 or fewer points in four of the five wins. "We put ourselves in position, if we defend, to win every game," Westbrook said. Ben McLemore scored 18 points and Travis Outlaw added 17 for the Kings. DeMarcus Cousins, who entered the game ranked 10th in the league in scoring, finished with four points on 2-for-8 shooting while dealing with foul trouble. Rudy Gay, who averages 20 points per game, finished with seven on 3-for-11 shooting. "Not one guy could take credit for stopping Gay or Cousins, so we just try to do it together and rely on each other, and we did a good job," Durant said. Sacramento point guard Isaiah Thomas missed his second straight game with a right quad contusion. In two games against the Thunder this season, he averaged 31 points and 4.5 assists while shooting 56 per cent from the field. Thomas scored a career-high 38 points against Oklahoma City on Jan. 19. Without him, the Kings shot 37 per cent from the field inn one of their worst offensive performances of the season. Jimmy Wynn Jersey. "The toughest position to lose is your point guard, just because he runs your team, and there were times tonight where obviously, we didnt look like an organized basketball team," Kings coach Michael Malone said. Oklahoma City bolted to a 32-15 lead at the end of the first quarter after holding the Kings to 26 per cent shooting, and the Thunder led 54-38 at halftime. Durant scored 16 points in the first half on just six shot attempts. Sacramentos starters shot 7 for 28 from the field before the break. Cousins had two points on 1-for-3 shooting in the first half in just seven minutes because of foul trouble. Durant surpassed 25 points on a 3-pointer in the third quarter, and then his lob to Westbrook for a dunk on Oklahoma Citys next possession gave the Thunder a 77-51 lead. Oklahoma City led 82-51 at the end of the quarter. "We did a good job of focusing in," Westbrook said. "We did a great job of just focusing on us and focusing on our team and trying not to worry about them so much." No Kings player reached double figures in scoring until McLemore made two free throws with 10:27 remaining in the fourth. "We are undermanned, we dont have a lot of bodies, so the guys who are able to play need to play with more of a sense of urgency and greater effort," Malone said. NOTES: Thunder C Hasheem Thabeet inadvertently deflected a ball off the backboard and into the hoop for the Kings in the first quarter. ... Westbrook scored 10 points in nine minutes in the first quarter. ... Westbrook was issued a technical foul in the second quarter for punching the ball and making it go out of bounds. Oklahoma Citys Serge Ibaka got a technical in the first minute of the third quarter. ... Thunder G Reggie Jackson sat out with a mid-back sprain. ... Thunder G Reggie Williams played for the second time this season after recently signing a 10-day contract. ... Kings F Derrick Williams did not play due to illness. ... Kings rookie G Ray McCallum got his second career start in Thomas place. Wholesale USA Soccer Jerseys discount uswnt jersey Wholesale AC Milan Jerseys Wholesale Arsenal Jerseys Wholesale A.S. 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