"Jeff is very excited that he is going to Ohio State," the player's father, Gene Tundo, said in an e-mail today. "He has spoken to Coach Myers and they both can't wait to fly the Buckeye colors. Jeff is thrilled to play for a school with the tradition and distinction that Ohio State has."
Concern over "Tommy John" surgery: Five of six athletes who had "Tommy John" elbow reconstruction surgery were able to return to a comparable level of play according to a recent study released by the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine. However, the study's authors said the trend of more young athletes requiring the surgery is alarming.
"Before 1997 this surgery was performed on only 12 of 97 patients who were 18 or younger (12 percent)," said Dr. E. Lyle Cain, fellowship director for the American Sports Medicine Institute, Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Ala. "In 2005 alone, 62 of the 188 operations performed, were on high school athletes, a third of the surgical group. The reality is that this surgery is successful and that's good. But a disturbing trend of younger kids needing the surgery is troubling.
"This should be a wake-up call to parents and coaches that specialization in baseball where kids don't get adequate time off is very dangerous."
"During Tommy John" surgery, a damaged elbow ligament (Ulnar Collateral Ligament or UCL) is replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body. The surgery is named for the Hall of Fame pitcher Tommy John, who was the pioneering recipient of the procedure in 1974 and went on to win another 164 major-league games.
In the study, 743 patients who had the Tommy John surgery were contacted for follow-up information. The majority of the patients — 94.5 percent — were baseball players, and 75.5 percent of major-leaguers returned to the same level of play. Another 56 percent of minor-league players did likewise.
