Former MLB pitcher Tommy John dies at age 83

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After tearing an elbow ligament, he underwent a risky procedure and returned at his best, changing baseball and giving new hope to injured players.

Tommy John, the major league pitcher who achieved 288 victories over a 26-year career and became the first player to successfully return after revolutionary elbow surgery later named in his honor, has died at age 83.

The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers were two of John's former clubs offering condolences after he died at his home in Bradenton, Florida, where he had received hospice care after a recurrence of bladder cancer.