Should Frank Jobe be inducted into the HOF as a pioneer?

[catbox_9]

With all the talk of Bill James being inducted into the HOF why not Frank Jobe? For those that aren't familiar, Dr. Frank Jobe performed Tommy John surgery on Tommy John.

A lot of anti-James HOF people say you can't really show anything he did that actually changed the game. Jobe; however, allowed guys that would have had virtually no career (i.e. Rivera) to have a career that will likely end up in the HOF.

Also, this thread (http://baseball-fever.com/showthread.php?t=12058&highlight=Frank+Jobe)from 2003 talks about this a little but I wanted a poll so I created a new one.


EDIT: on the poll options I wrote Dr. Frand Jobe.....that should read Frank

[Westlake]

No. And neither should Bill James.

[Calif_Eagle]

A medical HOF perhaps... thats what his achievement was. A pioneering medical triumph. A Great thing to be sure, maybe it warrants a small display or something at the HOF, but I dont think inducting him as member is the right thing to do.

[catbox_9]

Putting him in as a pioneer may be a stretch but I really think they should honor him in some way and I think most of us would agree on that.

[KCGHOST]

Make an exhibit in the corner somewhere for the medical men.

[Captain Cold Nose]

Right now, the basketball HOF will induct anyone who had an impact on the sport. This year, five coaches, a referee and a team were elected. Not a single player. It seems every college coach who has coached for twenty years and won a conference title will get in. But a player needs to excel at every single facet of the sport as well as have a myriad of rings to be sniffed at. They've moved away from acknowledging success ultimately happens on the court. Coaches contribute mightily and should be acknowledged, but the players make the game.

Jobe's surgery has helped a lot of pitchers at the initial stages of their injury/surgery. The player's ultimately returning to form is up to them through hard work and rehab, the surgery alone can't guarantee that. And the surgery is one of only many medical enhancements through the years. Does the inventor of arthroscopic surgery get in, or the inventor of the cat-scan because that advance in determining diagnosis has certainly helped the player take the next step? Does the founder of the Louisville Slugger company or the Rawlings mitt get in because of their superior product? Dr. Jobe is a footnote, an important footnote. He should not be a HOF'er.

[steveironcity]

Tommy should get in before his doctor.

[DTF955]

A pioneer should get in for something more long lasting than just one initial surgery.

If he were the doctor who performed almost all the surgeries over an extended period, he would have a case, just as Candy Cummings is in not only because he supposedly invented the curve ball, but used it rather effectively over a career. (Though how well is certainly in doubt to some.)

Also, Albert Spalding (who may be in as a pitcher, I'm nto sure) had not only all his sporting goods but the Spalding Guides and such. (Hence, different than what Captain Cold Nose mentioned as not deserving admission, the Rawlings and Louisville Slugger people.) Plus he was a very good pitcher. Henry Chadwick was not only the inventor of the box score, but a great sportswriter.

So, if he would have been, say, "baseball's official physician" and done most of the surgeries (not just his special invention) for 20+ years, then I would say he had a strong case. However, correct me if I'm wrong, but he ojnly did a few of the Tommy John surgeries alone, and the technique spread rather fast, I would think.

To have merely invented one surgery is like the person who wrote "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." The person's invention has been used extensively - at every game, in fact - to the piont where basebal lwouldn't be the same without it. But that was the person's sole contribution, great as it is.

I would have a special spot dedicated to baseball medicine, however, with his name prominently mentioned; but as a display area, not as a special induction for him.

[Dodgerfan1]

If Jobe is deserving of Hall of Fame stature, then it should be for some medical or physicians HOF, not baseball, IMO.

[digglahhh]

Make an exhibit in the corner somewhere for the medical men.

I agree with this.

The advances of medicine have had a tremendous influence on the game throughout the years. The Hall of Fame as a historic institution should honor that. They have displays that show the progression of uniforms and equipment.

[Dalkowski110]

If Frank Jobe goes in for pioneering something that changed the game, why not also induct Nap Rucker for inventing the modern knuckleball, Dave Keefe for the splitter, Pete Hotaling for inventing shinguards, Art Irwin for being the first guy to use a glove, Silver King for being the first sidearmer, Joe Start for being technically the first pro ballplayer (though the actually-deserving Jim Creighton was almost certainly paid under the table)...you get the point.

[Monarch]

Yes. So should Tommy John. Just think, without those two men, where would baseball be? It would still be played, but there are a lot of guys that wouldn't be playing baseball today if it wasn't for them. Look at what they have brought to the game of baseball and how they have advanced it, medically. I would be very interested to hear opinions from Major League managers and pitching coaches to see how the game would be today if "Tommy John" surgery didn't exist. Would they do anything different?