In the words of former Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden, the baseball world is mourning “the loss of a savior.”
Dr. Lewis Yocum, a renowned Major League Baseball orthopedic surgeon, passed away in his Manhattan Beach home Saturday, May 25. The Los Angeles Angels, for whom Yocum was the team physician for 36 years, said he fought a long and quiet battle with liver cancer. He was 65.
Yocum is best known for performing ulnar collateral ligament reconstructions – more commonly known as Tommy John surgery. He worked with his mentor and colleague Dr. Frank Jobe to develop and then perfect the procedure, which has saved the careers of dozens of MLB pitchers, including Billy Wagner, Francisco Liriano, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman.
Besides Braden, other players across the country took to Twitter upon hearing the sad news last week. Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson, who last year had elbow surgery from Yocum, tweeted, “Really saddened by the passing of Dr Yocum, he was the sole reason a lot of pitchers and I had a chance at a career in baseball.” His teammate Josh Hamilton added, “Dr. Yocum was a legend and will be missed.”
Baseball commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig also issued a statement of remembrance. “Dr. Lewis Yocum was a giant in the field of sports medicine… Throughout the last 36 years, the lives and careers of countless players benefited from his pioneering expertise, and he made our game on the field better as a result.”
But it wasn’t just all-star athletes who benefitted from Yocum’s expert care. Dr. James Tibone, who worked alongside Yocum at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles for more than 30 years, said his long-time friend and colleague treated every case with the same level of concern.
“He just loved being an orthopedic surgeon,” said Tibone, a sports medicine doctor and a professor of orthopedics at the University of Southern California. “He liked taking care of regular people off the street just as he liked treating professional athletes. This is a big loss to our entire community. Everyone is pretty sad this week.”
Operating Room nurse Gail Adamo, who worked with Yocum for 17 years, agreed.
“He was really caring with his patients and considerate with his staff,” Adamo said. “You really wanted to work hard for him in the O.R. because he was such an excellent teacher and a wonderful person.”
She added, “He was a super surgeon.”
Originally from Chicago, Yocum received his bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University in 1969. He then earned his medical degree at the University of Illinois before completing his internship and residency at McGaw Medical Center at Northwestern University.
Yocum started working at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in 1977 and shortly became the Angels’ team physician. It was there that he became close friends with Rick Smith, the Angels’ assistant athletic trainer.
“We were both foodies,” Smith said of his friend. “We enjoyed going to nice restaurants and talking about our families, about life. I just miss him terribly.”
In 2008, Yocum became the second physician to be named an honorary member of the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society. On May 5, the entire Angels team and staff dedicated their athletic training room to the doctor who had taken such great care of them for years.
“We knew he was sick, we just didn’t know exactly with what,” Smith said. “But we felt it was an appropriate time to dedicate that room to him. It was obviously a well-deserved honor.”
Smith said Yocum, who was joined by his family for the dedication, was surprised by the gesture.
“He was very proud and really appreciative, but he was such a gentleman and so humble that he was really just taken aback,” Smith said.
Yocum remains on the minds of the Angels players who filter in and out of the training room that now bears his name. Last Wednesday, Angels’ ace Jered Weaver traced the doctor’s initials in the mound at the start of the game, and for the remainder of the season, the entire team is sporting patches that read “LEW” for Lewis.
“He was such a rock for all of us,” Smith said. “He was always willing to give of his time, his intellect and his ability. That’s just the kind of great man he was.”
Yocum is survived by his wife Beth, his son Donald and his daughter Laura. A memorial service will be held at American Martyrs Church in Manhattan Beach Saturday, June 22, at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the Yocum family has asked that donations be sent to Saint Sebastian Sports Project P.O. Box 1711 Manhattan Beach, CA 90267.
