John Smoltz needs Tommy John surgery. Again. Despite the fact that the former Braves star hasn’t thrown an MLB-sanctioned pitch in six years. Say it ain’t so, Smoltz!
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It ain’t so. The Associated Press story beneath the botched headline tells a more interesting (and more accurate) tale: Smoltz, upon his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 26, will become the first pitcher in Cooperstown who has undergone Tommy John surgery. And likely not the last. A pioneer for those who would decree: Ligament damage, be damned.
Smoltz also stands alone in Cooperstown as the only pitcher to compile more than 200 wins and 150 saves in a career, all while he tallied more than 3,000 strikeouts. Post-surgery, Smoltz won 56 games, saved 154 and struck out 986 batters.
But somewhere in Myrtle Beach, a copy editor or headline writer is on the loose, tearing ligaments and killing elbows of pitchers past their prime. And Dr. James Andrews can’t save this Hall-of-Fame headline from the permanence of print or the everlasting screenshot.
On the internet, it will be forever torn apart.
