Tommy John Surgery: Death Sentence or Small Setback for Strasburg?

Tommy John won nearly 300 games and was a four-time All Star in his stellar major league career.

But the very mention of his name strikes fear in today's hurlers. That's because Tommy John Surgery, named after the Dodger pitcher who underwent the first such operation, is a major procedure that involves at least a year of recovery.

Such is the likely future facing Washington Nationals' phenom Stephen Strasburg after the team announced he tore an elbow ligament.

But does this spell the end of Strasburg's promising career?

Probably not.

When Dr. Frank Jobe performed the first such surgery on Tommy John in 1974, he put the Dodger pitcher's chances of complete recover at 1 in 100.

Since then, dozens of major leaguers have had the surgery, and chances of a successful recovery now hover closer to 90 percent, according to Dr. Michael Reinold, a rehabilitation coordinator for the Boston Red Sox.

The surgery, which is called ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction in the medical world, involves swapping an elbow ligament with a healthy tendon from elsewhere in the body (usually a forearm, hamstring, knee or foot).

"It's not the death sentence for a career that it sounds like," CBSSports.com's David Andriesen said. "Players can and do comeback."

A.J. Burnett, Chris Carpenter, Tim Hudson, Arthur Rhodes, Carl Pavano and Billy Wagner are just a few of the recent success stories coming off Tommy John surgery.

Andriesen noted that some players actually pick up an extra 2-3 MPH on their fastball when they return from the surgery.

"I look at the bright side," Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. "Tommy John surgery is a surgery that we've had great success at. The success rate for guys coming back from Tommy John and retaining their stuff is very good."