T.J.: My 26 Years in Baseball

John, a pitcher who admits he is unblessed with exceptional talent, parlayed resilience, Christian faith and family support into modern baseball's longest major-league career (1963-1989)--and three books. This one, written with Valenti ( From Florida to Fenway ), is the first to treat John's career in toto, to that final moment when, at age 46, he was released by the New York Yankees. As related here, John's 1976 comeback from revolutionary elbow surgery, son Travis's near-fatal fall from a window in 1981 and the nightmare 1985 season with the California Angels seem like mythic achievements; the tale of John's struggle with manager Dallas Green to make the 1989 Yankees is interweaved. Much of the material, however, is old cap, having appeared in The Tommy John Story , Sally and Tommy John and elsewhere. Unfortunately, the book approaches what in the parlance of the game is known as a waste pitch. (Mar . )