Tommy John won 288 games, had a career 3.34 ERA and struck out 2,245 batters in his 26 seasons in Major League Baseball.

But the pitcher is remembered mostly for a surgical procedure that bears his name.

Midway through the 1974 season, John tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow.

That was the kiss of death for a pitcher in those days, sort of like taking the mound for the Pirates is now.

But John was determined to pitch again ... and again ... and again.

At about the same time that John's elbow blew up, Dr. Frank Jobe was tinkering with the idea of transplanting a tendon into an injured elbow.

John was a willing guinea pig.

And why not? What did he have to lose?

If the surgery failed, he could say that he tried.

If it was a success, he could pitch again.

John spent the entire 1975 season rehabbing his arm and returned to the majors in 1976. His first season back was mediocre, but it was considered a miracle that he was pitching in the majors again.

Fourteen years and 168 wins later, John's legacy was cemented — and pitchers with bum arms were lining up to get a spiffy new ligament.

Tommy John surgery is as routine these days as losing seasons for the Pirates.

An argument can be made that Tommy John surgery is the biggest medical breakthrough in sports.

It has saved the careers of nearly 200 major league players since John went under the knife for the experimental procedure in 1974.

The latest will be everyone's favorite phenom, Stephen Strasburg. He was scheduled to have his 22-year-old elbow reconstructed today and probably won't pitch again in the majors until 2012.

That's OK, though. The track record for Tommy John surgery is a very good one.

Three Cy Young contenders in the National League, Chris Carpenter, Tim Hudson and Josh Johnson, had the procedure done.

The top two saves leaders in the American League, Rafael Soriano and Joakim Soria, have John to thank for their career revivals.

So it's not a big leap to think Strasburg will be back striking out batters at a prodigious rate as if he never left in 2012.

Good news for baseball. Bad news for hitters who have to face Strasburg 2.0.

Most pitchers come back from the surgery throwing with more velocity than before it.

Perhaps a sorry staff like the Pirates' should have all their pitchers go under the knife — or bring back Tommy John.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.