Tommy John White Sox Legacy Remembered in Chicago After Pitcher’s Death

Former pitcher’s Chicago years included All-Star recognition and a pivotal franchise trade

CHICAGO — The death of former major league pitcher Tommy John has renewed attention to his significant years with the Chicago White Sox, with a Chicago reader arguing that national coverage gave too little weight to the left-hander’s role in one of the club’s most competitive eras.

In a letter criticizing the Sun-Times’ use of an Associated Press obituary, William S. Bike of Clearing said the published account focused largely on John’s later, higher-profile stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. Bike also objected to the use of a photograph showing John in a Dodgers uniform rather than during his time with the White Sox.

The Associated Press obituary noted the 1974 operation that became known worldwide as Tommy John surgery, a groundbreaking procedure in which a torn elbow ligament was replaced with a tendon taken from his right forearm. The surgery transformed sports medicine and eventually became a common, though still serious, procedure for baseball pitchers and other athletes with ligament damage.

But John’s connection to Chicago long predated the operation. Cleveland traded him to the White Sox in 1965 in a deal that also brought outfielder Tommie Agee to Chicago. John developed into a central figure on a White Sox staff that helped keep the club in contention during the late 1960s and early 1970s.

According to Bike’s account, John either led or tied for the major league lead in shutouts in 1966 and 1967, and he was viewed as the White Sox pitching staff’s ace in 1966 and again in 1970. His standout 1968 season included a 1.98 earned-run average and an All-Star selection.

John also played an important part in the 1967 White Sox season, when Chicago spent much of the year atop the American League before narrowly missing the pennant. That team became known for its pitching and speed more than power hitting, and its close finish remains one of the franchise’s most memorable near-misses before divisional play began.

His departure proved consequential as well. Before the 1972 season, the White Sox dealt John to the Dodgers for slugger Dick Allen. Allen’s arrival gave Chicago a major offensive force and helped energize a franchise that Bike said had faced uncertainty about its future and the possibility of relocation.

The trade underscored John’s broader place in White Sox history: he was not only an accomplished pitcher in Chicago but also the player whose value helped the club acquire one of its most important stars of the 1970s. Allen nearly powered the White Sox into the postseason and remains closely associated with the team’s efforts to rebuild its local following.

John later became best known nationally for the surgery bearing his name and for his lengthy career with several clubs, including Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, the California Angels and Oakland Athletics. For many Chicago fans, however, Bike wrote, John should also be remembered as a White Sox star who anchored competitive teams well before his medical legacy changed baseball.

The letter did not indicate whether the Sun-Times plans to update or expand its obituary coverage, but it called for John’s White Sox accomplishments to receive fuller recognition in Chicago.