“I never wanted to look back and say: ‘Son of a gun, maybe if I’d worked a little harder in 1975, I might have come back.’” Tommy John’s desire to continue pitching a little longer did not let him shy away from hard work or uncommon surgical procedures. In the process, he changed the fate of pitchers in baseball forever. The indomitable southpaw, who ruled the mound for 26 long years in MLB, remains in hospice care at 83 years old. Ahead of the New York Yankees’ 78th Old-Timers’ Day celebration on Saturday, John had a heartfelt message to share.

“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 said via a statement released by the Yankees.

“…Thank you to all the fans who supported me & my teammates for 26 years. I will never forget you. The day I left for my first job as a pitcher, my father looked at me and 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.’ I’ve never forgotten those words. Thank you & God Bless.”

Born in 1943 in Terre Haute, Indiana, John broke into professional baseball when he signed with the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians) in 1961. He started his journey in Dubuque, Iowa, in the Class D Midwest League as an 18-year-old. By 1963, John was major league-ready and threw his debut pitch for Cleveland on September 6, 1963. He spent the first two years of his career in Cleveland and went through six MLB teams, with two separate stints with the Yankees (1979-1982 and 1986-1989).

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John was missing from the Yankees’ Old Timers’ Day on Saturday due to health problems. He has undergone treatment for recurring bladder cancer in the last few years. According to the Yankees’ official X handle, John is currently at home in Bradenton, Florida. However, the organization did not clarify whether his recent illness is related to the recurring cancer.

John’s lengthy career stretched across both the American and National Leagues. He holds a 288-231 record with a 3.34 ERA and 2,245 strikeouts. John has recorded 700 starts out of the 760 games he pitched in. Remarkably, out of his 288 wins, 164 came after the UCL injury that was supposed to end his career.

The fateful day came on July 17, 1974, when John was with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Facing Hal Breeden of the Montreal Expos with the Dodgers leading 4-0, John threw a 1-1 count. Though the windup and the delivery did not feel unusual, John’s arm felt dead afterwards.

“It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else,” John later described. “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.”

The UCL injury should have ended his career in 1974; instead, it redefined the outcome of elbow injuries in baseball. The Dodgers’ team doctor, Dr. Frank Jobe, repaired his torn ligament in his left elbow using one from his right wrist. After waking up with bandages on both arms, John worked harder than ever and came back stronger in 1976. He posted a 3.09 ERA with a 10-10 record across 31 starts.

In his goodbye statement, John wrote, “Thanks to Dr. Jobe, who saved my arm & made it possible for me to continue pitching. That surgery has since gone on to save the careers of countless pitchers, including many of the very best in the game today.”

The surgical procedure, now known as Tommy John surgery in the baseball world, has continued to redefine pitchers’ fates. The Yankees’ Gerrit Cole and the Braves’ Chris Sale, who both took the mound on Saturday at Yankee Stadium, are beneficiaries of it.

“Chris and I are a great example of taking it to the max as long as you can, then being given a fresh set of tires after a pit stop at the end,” Cole told MLB.com. “I think it’s a good opportunity to point that out, because he had an incredible career, both pre and post.”

While John’s legacy will continue to shine brightly in the baseball community, our prayers are with him, wishing him a speedy recovery.