My name is Dr. Tommy John and I’m the son of retired MLB pitcher Tommy John, the same athlete whom Tommy John surgery is named after, a surgery that is now negatively impacting our children involved in youth sports. I can’t express to you how disconcerting it is to say my father’s name and have people not associate the player to Tommy John, but instead think of the surgery that today is being done on children more often than it’s being performed on adults.
I just wanted to say thank you for reporting about what’s happening in youth sports regarding the lack of the multi-sport athlete and over specialization (“Time to diversify,” Sept. 21). As a former baseball player, growing up watching my famous father overcome injury, it’s become my passion to help parents and children as well, getting them to understand what sacrifices they are making when it comes to their kids.
You see, I too was actually part of the “youth sports machine” at one point and had developed my own baseball performance company, providing more than 11,000 baseball training lessons for kids as young as 6 years old. But when I began noticing children developing the same physical issues and nutritional deficiencies as the older professional athletes I cared for as a doctor, I stopped being a part of the problem and began healing young athletes instead. It’s something that I’ve been doing now for years, and I speak on the subject (right alongside my father) when I’m not working with young athletes across many sports in my practice.
Like I said, I just wanted to say thank you. I actually have a book coming out next year that I recently wrote for Da Capo, one that will spell out exactly what I do in my practice to reverse the damage being done to athletes of all ages. What’s happening in youth sports is an epidemic that needs to stop, and I hope to be that spokesperson. I hope to open the eyes of many as your marvelous article managed to do as well. Thank you.
This article appears in Nov 2-8, 2017.