So, how’s your elbow feeling?
Of all the things that the past few MLB seasons have forced Detroit Tigers fans to become experts in — U.S. labor law, Cap Anson’s shoddily recorded playing career, the stunning effectiveness of sliders again shortstops with big contracts — the most frustrating one might be ulnar collateral ligament replacement, aka, “Tommy John surgery.”
The procedure, first performed in 1974 on then-Dodgers lefty Tommy John by Dr. Frank Jobe (who's no relation to the Tigers’ top pick in 2021, Jackson Jobe), involves swapping the elbow's UCL out for a tendon from somewhere else.