Everyone who reads this post knows who Tommy John was because of a surgery named after him. A tall pitcher, (6’3”), who couldn’t break a pane of glass, he won 288 games as a “crafty lefty.” He was a 4-time all-star, finished second in the Cy Young voting twice and won 20 games three times. The HOF never called though teammates believed he belonged. On August 8 he wrote a farewell thank you letter to the Yankees organization and his fans and passed away a week later on August 15th at the age of 83. I, [Paul "O'Neill" Cincotta of the Flemington Neshanock], was one of those fans. And I want to share the story of my chance meeting with a patient Tommy John, my dad, and a McDonalds restaurant in Nyack NY.
My interest in Tommy John was piqued not only because he signed with the Yankees but because of a 1979 documentary that was distributed among Christian churches discussing his faith. That provided me with a clue to his character. My memory again is foggy, but it would have been in the summer of 1980 or 1981 that my chance meeting happened.
As I wrote in my story about memorable games, my father had an internal GPS of every McDonalds in a 100-mile radius of our home in Tuckerton NJ and I guess Nyack, NY in Rockland County qualified. While my father and I received our order and sat down, I noticed a man waiting for his order who I thought resembled Tommy John. My father took a glance but didn’t agree. But as teenagers often do, I nagged my father a few more times before he said, “well why don’t you go up to him and ask.” This I did politely asking, “Excuse me, but are you, Tommy John?” When the answer came back yes, I was frozen in time. All I could do was put out my hand and shake his. No autograph, no other words, just a handshake and back to my seat to tell my father who was surprised that I was correct.
We ate our meal, but Tommy John was still at the counter patiently awaiting his order. I left saying something like “keep up the great pitching job” and we went out the door. I remember my father and I discussing how it came about to meet him only because his order took so long. I guess he was a patient man just like his pitching style to get batters out who were impatient to wait on his slow breaking pitch
My father, who passed away in 2010, would have turned 100 on July 28, 2026. My siblings and I planned a dinner with his favorite foods to be celebrated on August 17. Little did I know that Tommy John was in poor health when this dinner was planned. But reminiscing about my father, and with Tommy John’s passing, I remembered the connection of how a teenager, my dad and a McDonalds brought back an experience I will never forget. To this day he is one of only two sports figures I have ever “run into.” (the other being Carl Yastrzemski). Somehow baseball always has a great ending when it involves a dad, his son, a baseball player, and a McDonalds. Thanks Dad.
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