LOS ANGELES - OCTOBER 1978: Tommy John #25 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches during the World Series against the New York Yankees at Dodger Stadium on October 1978 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Focus On Sport/Getty Images) | Focus on Sport via Getty Images
Tommy John, the longtime major league pitcher who was the first to undergo the eponymous surgery that revolutionized baseball, has passed away, it was announced today, having battled bladder cancer for some time. He was 83.
John was originally signed by Cleveland and pitched briefly in the majors for them before being sent to the Chicago White Sox in a three team deal. John spent six seasons with the White Sox, including three 5+ bWAR seasons from 1968-70, before being traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 1971 season for Dick Allen.
John spent three seasons as a fixture in the Dodgers’ rotation, leading the league in winning percentage in 1973 and 1974, although a damaged UCL cut his 1974 season short. Facing an injury that was potentially career-ending, he opted to undergo an experimental surgery in September of 1974, with Dr. Frank Jobe replacing his damage UCL with a tendon from his forearm. It was the first time the surgery had been performed on a pitcher’s elbow, and when John successfully returned to action in 1976, “Tommy John surgery” entered the sport’s vernacular.
John spent 14 seasons in the majors post-surgery, finishing second in the N.L. Cy Young voting in 1977, advancing to the World Series with the Dodgers in 1978, finishing second in the A.L. Cy Young voting in 1979 in his first season with the New York Yankees, and ultimately accumulating 288 career wins. John’s 61.6 career bWAR is 58th all time among major league pitchers.
CHICAGO - UNDATED 1980: Tommy John of the New York Yankees poses before a MLB game at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. John played for the Yankees from 1979-1982 and 1986-1989. (Photo by Ron Vesely/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | Getty Images
Former Yankees pitcher Tommy John passed away last night in his Florida home in Lakewood Ranch, according to a statement released by his agent Mike Maguire this morning. The news comes just eight days after he had penned a goodbye to the fans and the baseball community, published on his behalf by the New York Yankees on Old Timers’ Day, amid reports that he was in hospice care. He was 83 years old. The Yankees, the Dodgers, and Major League Baseball confirmed the news.
A native of Terre Haute, Indiana, John pitched for a remarkable 26 seasons (1963-89), including eight with the Yankees (1979-82, 1986-89); we ranked him 65th on our Top 100 Yankees countdown a few years back. He made his MLB debut with Cleveland, the team that signed him out of high school, on September 6, 1963, before being traded to the White Sox following the 1964 season. Across seven seasons on the South Side, he established himself as one of the top pitchers in the game, leading the league in shutouts in back-to-back seasons before earning his first career All-Star nod in 1968.
After a down year in 1971, he was traded to the Dodgers, where he entered baseball immortality — not just from his performance on the field, but from what he overcame. On July 17, 1974, in the midst of his best season since 1968, John felt “strangest sensation [he] had ever known” as his arm went dead; speaking about the incident later, he would say, ““It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else. It was as if my body continued to go forward and my left arm had just flown out to right field, independent of the rest of me.” Although he didn’t know it at the time, that feeling was the “pop” that meant his ulnar collateral ligament had torn.
At the time, the injury was a career-ender. However, Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers’ team physician, attempted a surgery that had never been done on an elbow before, replacing the UCL in John’s left elbow with a ligament from his right wrist. After a long recovery that required an additional surgery to reroute the ulnar nerve, John returned to the mound on April 16, 1976 — and changing baseball forever.
John pitched for 14 more seasons after receiving the surgery that takes his name, including all eight of his years in pinstripes. He retired after the 1989 season — his age-46 campaign! — embarking on a career as a television analyst, college and minor league baseball coach, and a motivational speaker. The last was pretty big accomplishment, as he had a stutter growing up, and was shamefully even forbidden from speaking at his high school graduation despite being the valedictorian because of it.
While John never made it into Cooperstown despite his long career and pioneering efforts, he unquestionably goes down as one of the most important players to have ever played the game. His courage to brave an experimental surgery and resilience to engage in a year-long recovery from near-paralysis to return to the big-league mound revolutionized sports medicine and has made possible the careers of countless pitchers, and more than a handful of position players, who would otherwise have seen their dreams cut short.
Consider the following list of excellent players: Gerrit Cole, John Smoltz, Shohei Ohtani, Max Fried, Bryce Harper, Justin Verlander, Carlos Rodón, Jacob deGrom, Didi Gregorius, David Wells, A.J. Burnett, Chris Carpenter, Chris Sale, Tyler Glasnow, Gleyber Torres, Tom Gordon, Tim Hudson, Yu Darvish, Sandy Alcántara, Paul Molitor, Francisco Liriano, Garrett Crochet, David Robertson, Nathan Eovaldi, Billy Wagner, Salvador Pérez, Aníbal Sánchez, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Luis Severino, Corey Seager, and Stephen Strasburg. All had second (or third) acts to their careers made possible by Tommy John and Frank Jobe. Now that’s a legacy.
Rest in peace, Tommy; we wish your family the best.
After the news was announced, the Yankees and Major League Baseball released the following statements:
STATEMENT FROM THE NEW YORK YANKEES:
“The New York Yankees mourn the passing of Tommy John, who was a bedrock of our rotation during his time in pinstripes and a longtime favorite of Yankees fans. While his incredible longevity and post-surgery achievements changed the fortunes… pic.twitter.com/p6ndlBxUTb
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Tommy John, a veteran of 26 MLB seasons who helped revolutionize recovery from pitching injuries in the 1970s.
John broke in with Cleveland as a 20-year-old in 1963 and made his last appearance for the Yankees at age 46 in 1989, also… pic.twitter.com/z4bB9I31vL
TORONTO, ON - FEBRUARY 20: Leo Komarov #47 of the Toronto Maple Leafs hits the post of Roberto Luongo #1 of the Florida Panthers during the third period at the Air Canada Centre on February 20, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images
Apologies for taking a bit to get around to this one, but thought it made sense to take a look at who our new goalie management team is. First, Let’s meet Leo Luongo who joins the Devils as the New Head of Goaltending Excellence, following Sunny from Florida and taking the same name. I always get a little chuckle when companies create names for departments like this, my department was rebranded a “center of excellence” a few years ago, so hey why not.
Background
Born on July 24, 1984, in Montreal, Quebec, Luongo more or less jumped right into coaching from a young age (24). He started in the QMJHL in 2008-09 with Acadie-Bathurst where he would spend 5 seasons. In 2012-13, he jumped to the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch as a consultant before moving overseas to Switzerland, working with the HC Lugano program from 2013-16. Luongo worked up and down the Lugano’s program, serving as the goaltending coach for the U15 to U20 teams, and the professional HC Lugano club.
He would return stateside in 2016-17 and spent 6 seasons with the Springfield Thunderbirds as a goaltending and video coach before joining the Florida organization and his brother Roberto. He has spent the past 10 seasons with the Florida Panthers organization at the AHL and NHL levels which included player development and goaltending coaching. In 2024-25 He was a member of Florida’s then newly created Goaltending Excellence Department, which worked with all the organization’s goaltenders on scouting and development. He added the responsibilities as Head of Goalie Development and Scouting for the past two seasons and as we are all aware has 2 Stanley cup rings to show for it.
He’s worked with some notable veteran and young goalies alike, most notably Spencer Knight, Alex Lyon, Sam Montembault (while with Springfield) as well as veterans like his brother Roberto and Bobrovsky of late. He has also worked closely with legendary goaltending coach Rob Tallas, which is encouraging. In my research I stumbled across an interesting little story about Leo and Roberto from 2016, and how integral Leo was in getting his brother ready for the season, a season where Luongo posted a .915 sv pct.
Role with the Devils
Luongo now oversees all goaltending development and reports to Marty, the EVP and head of Hockey Operations. His responsibilities will include will work new Devils goalie coach Dan Stewart, Utica Goaltending Coach Brian Eklund, and New Jersey’s Head Amateur Goalie Scout/Development Coach Manny Legace – so he will have a hand in every goalie, current and future.
My Thoughts
This is another move that I like on paper from the Mehta regime, but I won’t pretend to know or understand the nuance that goes into it, what kind of impact he will have and only time will tell if it’s its successful. I like his pedigree, I like how he has grinded in the minors and Europe, and I like the goalies he has worked with. That is really all you can ask for, and dare I say – adding a layer in between Marty and the hands-on coaching is a good thing.
In terms of this upcoming year, I will be profiling Dan Stewart shortly, who will probably have a larger immediate impact. I touched on Sunny’s moneyball bet on Daws, Allen and Rittich (does R.A.D. work? I dunno, we’ll workshop that). If there is one position that analytics has dramatically affected it is goaltending in two ways. First, goalies have become more and more homogenous: they all butterfly, they all RVH, they all get big and play the percentages. Second, front offices are realizing that unless you have one of 3-4 guys and have an absolute stud, you are better off spending your money on the skater group and playing better in front of the goalies.
The Cubs and Cardinals will play the rubber match of this series Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field. The Cubs took game one Friday afternoon, which was quite the pitchers’ duel only interrupted by a home run swing from Seiya Suzuki for a Cubs win. The Cardinals took Saturday’s game on the strength of a rookie debut for the ages with a three-home run game from Joshua Báez. Sunday’s action will be featured on ABC nationally, for baseball fans to enjoy the greatest rivalry in baseball, Midwest Style.
As long-time readers of Bleed Cubbie Blue know, nationally featured games call for a Bingo card. This tradition began in 2019 as a way to distract from the sometimes groan-inducing ESPN booth that had a penchant for ridiculous takes. But even as that booth improved we kept the game around. It’s a fun way to follow the action and see just how predictable a national crew can be as it features baseball action from the cathedral of the sport at the corner of Clark and Addison.
Today’s version features the Cubs hosting their biggest rival in a game that has implications for both teams, with the Cubs trying to chase down the Brewers for the division and the Cardinals trying to eke out any wins they can in the hope of securing a wild card spot in October. As always, make it a blackout game for a challenge, but I don’t recommend making it a drinking game unless you are personally trying to black out.
Golden State Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg isn’t afraid to say what he thinks.
Lendeborg was asked if he was excited for the upcoming matchup with Dillon Brooks of the Phoenix Suns. The No. 11 overall pick wasn’t coy in his response.
“I’m finna give Dillon Brooks belt,” Lendeborg said on a Kick stream.
Yaxel Lendeborg has never been afraid to make candid comments since he was drafted. Getty Images
“I’m finna give Dillon Brooks belt.”
Yaxel Lendeborg speaks on whether he is excited for the matchup against Dillon Brooks
Brooks has built a reputation for being one of the least-liked players in the league. His alleged dirty antics and constant chirping has warranted that notion. But that’s not the only player Lendeborg at one time had some disdain for.
Warriors Yaxel Lendeborg threw massive shade at Suns star Dillon Brooks. Getty Images
“It’s a full-circle moment for me. I’ve been saying this every time I get asked this question. In 2016, I’m a big Kyrie guy, so I used to hate Steph Curry,” Lendeborg said. “So now that I’m actually going to be on the same team as him, play and actually learn so much from him, it means a lot.”
The Brooks comments appears to be the former Wolverine’s latest candid comments.
But the rookie will have to prove that he can indeed keep up with a pesky defender like Brooks once Golden State faces the Suns in their first matchup of the season on Oct. 24.
Lendeborg has already made a good first impression on head coach Steve Kerr after leading the G-League team to an NBA summer league championship. He finished the title matchup with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Yaxel Lendeborg was selected with the No. 11 overall pick by the Warriors in the 2026 NBA Draft. NBAE via Getty Images
The Warriors have entered the final years of Curry’s career and many feel as though the organization may be squandering their closing campaigns with the 38-year-old. Golden State was involved in the LeBron James sweepstakes, but hasn’t made a notable free agent signing this summer.
However, Lendeborg is expected to be a key addition for Curry and the Warriors this season.
Tommy John before a game with the Dodgers on Aug. 12, 1977. It was his first season back after a revolutionary elbow procedure that would eventually bear his name. (Lennox McLendon / Associated Press)
It’s right there in the medical books, along with Belsey fundoplication, Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty and Keller’s excision arthroplasty: Tommy John surgery.
Purists might refer to it as ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, but the rest of the world knows it as the career-saving surgery named for a sore-armed left-handed Dodgers pitcher.
Tommy John was facing the bleak reality that his career was likely over when he ruptured a ligament in his left elbow on a summer night in 1974, an injury that had sent so many pitchers into an early retirement. But a then-radical surgery not only saved but revived his career, as well as the careers of hundreds of baseball players ranging from Tom Candiotti to John Smoltz to Shohei Ohtani in the 50 years since.
Always more famous for the surgical procedure than his career stats, John died Saturday, the Dodgers announced. He was 83.
“We are saddened to hear the news of Tommy John’s passing,” Dodgers president and Chief Executive Officer Stan Kasten said in a statement. “... Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated. His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come.”
A good pitcher before the surgery with 124 wins in 12 seasons with three teams, he won 164 more afterward — only one fewer than Sandy Koufax during his entire career, he liked to point out — in 14 more seasons with four teams, finally retiring at 46 with a 288-231 record and a 3.34 earned-run average.
“Dr. Jobe made it so I could throw a baseball again,” John told The Times’ Sam Farmer in 2023 from his home in Sarasota, Fla. “After surgery, I never missed a start, and I even pitched out of the bullpen every once in a while.”
He pitched for the Dodgers and the Angels and had two successful stints with the New York Yankees but it was with the Dodgers that he had his greatest success, an 87-42 record and a 2.97 ERA, helping them to consecutive World Series appearances.
It was also as a Dodger that he had his history-making operation.
He came to the Dodgers in a trade from the Chicago White Sox in December 1971 with an 84-91 record, a good curveball and a less than intimidating fastball. Pitching coach Red Adams convinced him that precision location and ball movement were more effective than raw speed and John went 11-5 the following season. He also became well acquainted with orthopedist Frank Jobe, the team physician.
Late in the season, he jammed his left elbow sliding into home plate, jarring loose some bone chips. Jobe cleaned things up for John during the offseason.
Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda congratulates Tommy John after John shut out the Phillies during 1978 National League Championship Series. (Associated Press)
Then in July 1974, by which time John had become a mainstay in the pitching rotation, he threw a pitch to Hal Breeden of the Montreal Expos that changed his life, and ultimately the lives of many others.
“Right at the point where I put force on the pitch, the point where my arm is back and bent, something happened,” he told Sports Illustrated. “It felt as if I had left my arm somewhere else. It was as if my body continued to go forward and my left arm had just flown out to right field, independent of the rest of me.
“I heard this thudding sound in my elbow, then I felt a sharp pain.”
John had ruptured the medial ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, although he didn’t know that then. The pitch, of course, was nowhere near the strike zone and, despite the pain and in an effort to see if that was a fluke, he tried to throw another. It bounced off the plate, ending his outing and, for all anyone knew, his pitching career.
Jobe recommended total rest but after a month, with no sign of healing, he came up with an outside-the-box suggestion. Earlier, Jobe had grafted a tendon to a recovered polio patient’s ankle to provide stabilization. He thought maybe a tendon could be grafted to a pitcher’s elbow as well.
He gave John a grim choice: Do nothing and never pitch again, or try the surgery at 100-1 odds against success.
“I told Dr. [Frank] Jobe if you do your job I will do more than mine,” John told The Times last year. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right doctor and team.”
So, on Sept. 25, 1974, Jobe took a tendon from John’s right arm, threaded it through holes he had drilled in John’s left elbow and hoped it all would work.
Nerve damage necessitated a second surgery several months later and the prospects were not promising. John’s left arm had atrophied, his hand now basically a claw, and two of his fingers were numb.
Even so, he began rehab, knowing he would miss the entire 1975 season. He taped the unfeeling fingers to the functioning ones so that he could grip a baseball, then, resembling “a little boy throwing against the steps of his back porch,” threw against a wall. He squeezed Silly Putty and strictly adhered to a physical therapy regimen.
By June 1975 he had regained the use of his entire hand and in late September pitched three innings in an exhibition game. He continued his routine through the offseason and into spring training, once joking, “When they operated on my arm, I asked them to put in a Koufax fastball. They did but it turned out to be Mrs. Koufax.”
Surprising many, who considered it at least a minor miracle, he was back in the rotation at the start of the 1976 season and went five innings in his first start, giving up five hits and three runs in a loss to the Braves in Atlanta. He finished the season at 10-10 with a 3.09 ERA, and if anyone was still wondering about his comeback, he put doubts to rest in 1977.
In one of his best seasons, he won 20 games, had a 2.78 ERA and finished second in National League Cy Young award voting for the pennant-winning Dodgers. In a 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the clinching Game 4 of the NL Championship Series — then a best-of-five format — John pitched a complete game, striking out eight in a 130-pitch effort.
Dodgers pitcher Tommy John celebrates after the final out in a 4-1 victory over the Phillies in Game 4 of the 1977 NLCS that clinched the pennant for the Dodgers. (Associated Press)
He came back with a 17-victory season in ’78 and the Dodgers won the pennant again but again lost to the Yankees in the World Series, with John winning a game in both the NLCS and World Series. After the season, he signed with New York as a free agent.
He was an immediate hit with the Yankees, winning 21 games in 1979 and finishing second in the American League Cy Young voting, then won 22 in ’80. In 1981, the Yankees reached the World Series, once again facing the Dodgers — and John was at the center of the most controversial decision in the series that ultimately sealed New York’s fate.
John was the starter in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium with the Dodgers leading the series, 3-2. The left-hander had won Game 2, giving up three hits over seven innings in a 3-0 victory, and had completed four innings of one-run ball when Yankees manager Bob Lemon elected to pinch-hit for John with two runners on in a 1-1 game. ABC, which broadcast the World Series that year, showed John looking visibly upset and surprised as he paced the dugout.
Bobby Murcer flied out to right to end the inning, and the Dodgers would score eight runs over the next four innings against an ineffective Yankees bullpen to secure a 9-2 victory and win the franchise’s first World Series since 1965.
“At the time my reaction was, ‘why is he doing this?’ I was pitching fine and you don’t pull someone out in the fourth inning just because you need a hit at the time,” John said last year. “I was not happy, but that was so long ago in retrospect could we have won? I think so. Does it matter now? No.”
In John’s two stints with the Yankees — he had four seasons with the Angels in between — he was 91-60 with a 3.59 ERA.
And it was with the Yankees that he made the record book, in a way no player would ever want. He committed three errors in an inning, all on the same play during a game July 27, 1988.
With the Yankees leading the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 and Jim Gantner on first for the Brewers, John charged a slow roller by Jeffrey Leonard to the first-base side of the mound. First, he bobbled the ball. Then, he sailed it past first baseman Don Mattingly, bouncing it off the right-field ballboy. Dave Winfield made a nice play on the ball and fired a strong throw home. It was on line and probably would have nailed the hustling Gantner but John cut it off, then threw wildly past catcher Don Slaught and into the Brewers’ dugout as Gantner scored.
John’s summation, according to Newsday? “I must have had a metal cup on. It glitched the ions in the air.”
After his playing days, John did some broadcasting, some minor league managing and became a strong advocate for suicide prevention after one of his sons took his own life. And after seeing many young pitchers, some still in their teens, undergo the surgery named for him, he spoke out against arm overuse, recommending less than year-round pitching by young arms.
But regardless of the context, John is forever linked to the operation that continues to be performed by orthopedic surgeons such as Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who began learning how to perform the procedure when he was a fellow at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in 1990 from Jobe himself. The two would operate together twice a week throughout the 1990s and were close friends until Jobe’s death in 2014.
“It should have been called the Frank Jobe operation,” ElAttrache told The Times in 2023. “But with Frank being the man he was, it was all about the person he was treating. It wasn’t about him.”
By ElAttrache’s estimation, he has performed the operation between 50 and 75 times per year over his career — including the two he has done on Ohtani, one in 2018 and one in 2023. And although ElAttrache has put his own signatures on the surgery — including a second graft to further fortify Ohtani’s elbow — the operation has remained largely the same since Jobe first performed it in 1974.
John is survived by his wife, Cheryl, and his children, Tommy, Travis and Tamara. A private celebration of his life will be held in Florida.
Former Times staff writer Michael Kupper wrote this obituary prior to his death in 2025.
Tommy John, the namesake of a revolutionary elbow surgery that has saved thousands of pitchers' careers over the past five decades, including his own, has died at the age of 83, Los Angeles Dodgers announced Sunday, Aug. 16.
John had been in hospice care at his home in Bradenton, Florida, and sent a message to the New York Yankeessaying his goodbyes before the team's Old Timers' Day home game against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 8, 2026, also thanking Dr. Frank Jobe, who performed his surgery.
"I want to thank the Yankees organization & the Steinbrenner family for giving me this opportunity to say goodbye to everyone, along with all the friends & fans who followed me throughout my 26-year career," John, who pitched for the Yankees from 1979-82 and 1986-89, said in a statement.
"The day I left for my first job as a pitcher, my father looked at me & said, 'Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: whether you make it big in the big leagues or you don’t, you’ll always just be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana."
John started his major league career with Cleveland in 1963, before pitching with the Chicago White Sox from 1965-71.
In 1974, while pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers, John suffered an injury to his left pitching arm. Jobe, the Dodgers team physician, performed the four-hour ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery on Sept. 25, causing John to miss the entire 1975 season. The surgery entailed replacing the UCL with a tendon from elsewhere in the body, in this case, John's right wrist. Jobe then took that wrist tendon, drilled holes in John's injured elbow, and wove the tendon through the holes.
John returned for the 1976 season and went on to pitch 14 more years, winning another 164 games with the Dodgers, Yankees, California Angels (1982-85) and Oakland Athletics (1985).
"We are saddened to hear the news of Tommy John’s passing today,” said Dodgers president Stan Kasten in a statement released by the club. "Tommy was an exceptional pitcher throughout his career in Major League Baseball, and his courageous role in becoming the first to have surgery that would go on to bear his name can’t be overstated. His impact both on and off the field has been felt by ballplayers of all ages and will be for generations to come.”
John finished his career with a 288-231 record and 3.31 ERA in 760 career games, and he was named to four All-Star teams. He fell off the Hall of Fame ballot in 2009 in his 15th and final year of eligibility after receiving 31.7% of the votes.
John had broadcasting stints with the Minnesota Twins and Class AAA Charlotte Knights and also served in coaching capacities at the collegiate, minor league and professional level.
Riders’ union expresses fury about Volta a Portugal
Tarling died after collision with non-race vehicle
The professional cycling community has reacted with fury to the death of the teenage Welsh rider, Finlay Tarling, in the Volta a Portugal, with a leading former professional describing the race’s safety measures as “catastrophic”.
Tarling, the younger brother of the Netcompany Ineos professional Josh Tarling, was in collision with a non-race vehicle driving towards the peloton while he competed in the Portuguese race’s eighth stage. The 19-year-old’s death on Friday has led to a surge of anger, with the riders’ union, the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA), describing itself as “furious”.
Aug 13, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson (20) hits an RBI single in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Detroit Tigers (60-63) vs. Chicago White Sox (64-58)
Time/Place: 1:40 p.m., Comerica Park SB Nation Site:South Side Sox Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network Pitching Matchup: RHP Drew Anderson (4-4, 3.91 ERA) vs. RHP Sean Burke (7-6, 2.99 ERA)
TORONTO, CANADA - AUGUST 11: Patrick Sandoval #43 of the Boston Red Sox pitches during the first inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on August 11, 2026 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Paul Skenes hasn’t quite been PAUL SKENES this season — he gave up at least 5 earned runs in 3 of his 6 starts in July. Nevertheless, it’s still a nice little treat for the Sox that he’s been bumped from this afternoon’s start.
Instead, it’ll be Lake Bachar taking the bump for the Pirates. Bachar is a reliever, but he has thrown 3 innings in a game 4 times already this season, including twice this month. Presumably, that’s what the Bucs will be hoping to get out of him before turning the game over to the rest of the bullpen.
With Masataka Yoshida heading to the IL, Adley Rutschman will assume DH duties. Willson Contreras, who is hitting under the Mendoza line with just a single homer in August, will get the day off.
On the other side of the ball it’ll be Patrick Sandoval making his seventh start of the year. Sandoval’s superficial numbers are perfectly respectable, but anyone who’s watched him pitch knows he’s been the beneficiary a lot of luck and has walked on a tightrope every time out. Hopefully this afternoon he doesn’t fall off.
TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA - 2016/04/16: Self employed man selling cotton candy in front of Roger Centre entrance, the landmark is a multi-purpose stadium in downtown Toronto, it is home to the Toronto Blue Jays among other sports teams. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) | LightRocket via Getty Images
This is game #126. And it is an early game, but I’m out for a while. I might be back before game time, but I might not, so this is the GameThread if I don’t get back in time. I played singles tennis this morning, I don’t do that very often, but won. It is fun, but I like doubles because if I lose, it is my partner’s fault.
Dylan Cease gets the start for the forces of white.
Photo via Kobe Bryant/Twitter | Photo via Kobe Bryant/Twitter
There aren’t many great memories of the Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard era.
What was supposed to be another title window opening for Bryant ended up being a season referred to as the Dwightmare. There was tension between Kobe and Dwight, players couldn’t stay healthy and it ended with a torn Achilles and a first-round sweep.
Time hasn’t really made that season look any better, but there was a kernel of joy in the midst of a downtime for the Lakers.
With the chatter about infighting between Kobe and Dwight almost reaching the levels of the Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal feud, the team decided to have some fun.
Then Lakers head coach Mike D’Antoni was caught in the middle of Kobe and Dwight, jokingly looking like he was trying to stop the madness while also crying out for help.
This past weekend, D’Antoni joined the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He sat down for a Q&A with Dave McMenamin of ESPN and this iconic picture came up.
How did it happen?
There were rumors that they had really gotten into it and they hated each other, and this was not going to work.
I was on the training table rehabbing my knee and Kobe was there, and Dwight and I go, “Can you believe this?” I don’t know how, but we just started talking and all of a sudden [the photo was shot].
In the moment, this image certainly cooled down the temperature in LA. There was still time to get things right, and with everyone clearly playing around, the reaction to this picture was positive.
Later in the story, D’Antoni revealed that Bryant made the picture happen.
Was it Kobe’s idea? Because obviously he posted it.
I think it was. I think it was Kobe. But it wasn’t an idea that, “Oh, let’s pose for a picture and get this out.” But it was more of a joke. And I guess maybe the trainer [Gary Vitti] had a phone camera or something.
Gary might have said something like, “You guys stand there and look like you’re fighting, which everybody thinks you’re doing every day, anyway.” Something like that. It was off the cuff. It wasn’t planned.
It was more or less just us responding with, “It’s not as bad as people say it is.”
As we look back on life, we sometimes feel nostalgia for moments that came even during bad times. This is one of those times.
Now that this is a story from well over a decade ago, we can all just laugh and shake our heads. In the end, this team couldn’t win, but the picture will live in infamy.
Tommy John, who pitched 26 seasons in the majors, including eight with the Yankees, has died at the age of 83.
“The New York Yankees mourn the passing of Tommy John, who was a bedrock of our rotation during his time in pinstripes and a longtime favorite of Yankees fans," the club said in a team statement. "While his incredible longevity and post-surgery achievements changed the fortunes and trajectory of countless athletes around the world, it also overshadowed his excellence as a pitcher, which included consecutive 20‑win seasons with the Yankees. We pause to remember the totality of his legacy — his competitiveness and skill, his penchant for conversation, his kind and gracious nature, and his stature as an athletic and medical pioneer. The Yankees extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends, including wife, Cheryl, daughter, Tamara, and sons Tommy III and Travis. We also keep his son Taylor in our hearts.”
"I want to thank the Yankees organization & the Steinbrenner family for giving me this opportunity to say goodbye to everyone, along with all the friends & fans who followed me throughout my 26-year career."
John also thanked Dr. Frank Jobe, who performed UCL reconstruction surgery on the pitcher in 1974 that is now forever known as Tommy John surgery.
John pitched in eight seasons with the Yankees (1979-82, 1986-89), posting a 3.59 ERA. He also pitched for the White Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Indians, and Athletics in a career that spanned from 1963-89.
Keith Hernandez also shared some words about John during Sunday's game between the Mets and National:
"Just a wonderful man... he should be in the Hall of Fame, I'm going to continue to promote him for that"
Keith Hernandez talks about his first time facing Tommy John, who was pitching for the Dodgers: pic.twitter.com/C0bx7cPSCV
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 15: Brady House #12 of the Washington Nationals runs the bases after his sixth inning three-run home run against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 15, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Divisional matchups have not gone well for the Nats this season. They are now 11-26 against NL East teams. After dropping the first two games to the Mets, they will look to improve that dismal record. After a promising series against the Reds, the bullpen has been a real problem again.
With a righty on the mound, Blake Butera is making a few lineup changes. Jorbit Vivas is in for Nasim Nunez at second base. Abimelec Ortiz will be at first base, but Andres Chaparro will stay in the lineup at DH. Keibert Ruiz will do the catching in this one. Jake Irvin looks to bounce back from a rough start against the Cubs.
The Mets are only making a couple changes. Luis Robert is back in the lineup, but playing left field, which is new for him. Brett Baty will slide from left to second base, with Marcus Semien getting a day off. Luis Torrens will be doing the catching. Christian Scott is on the bump for the Mets.
This has been a really disappointing series for the Nats but they have a chance to salvage a game today. They will need more consistent play at the plate and on the mound to do that though. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats.
Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger is set to start a rehab assignment this week, manager Aaron Boone said before Sunday's game at the Toronto Blue Jays.
Bellinger (left hamstring strain) is expected to play games Thursday and Friday, likely with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, before potentially rejoining New York for this coming weekend's three-game series against the Blue Jays. Boone originally said before Sunday's game that Bellinger would play Tuesday and Thursday but clarified after New York's 4-3 win in 10 innings that he misspoke.
Bellinger, 31, has been on the injured list since July 26.
Before his injury, he slashed .259/.350/.420 with 11 home runs and 53 RBI in 102 games.
"Grade 2 strain, so probably a 4-to-6-week situation," Boone said July 27. "The good thing is he's obviously able to move around right now, so we'll continue to do that and just allow this thing to heal and get him right."
