A man who had a major impact in baseball passed today, someone who helped teams win championships and aided some of the biggest names in the sport.

That man was Lewis Yocum, and he was a orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports surgeries like Tommy John Surgery, in addition to serving as the team physician for the Angels. His passing has been commented upon by many in the baseball community, with some declaring that they owed him their careers.

Which leads to this: should surgeons and doctors be considered for the Hall of Fame?

Well, the answer is probably no. After all, they aren’t in this for fame, and to try and say what makes a “Hall of Fame Surgeon” is fraught with questions I don’t think can be answered.

But, let’s just consider for a second the impact that some of these surgeons have had on baseball.

Imagine what the world of baseball pitching looked like before Frank Jobe. Who’s Frank Jobe? He’s the guy who first performed ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) reconstruction surgery, where a UCL is replaced by a tendon from elsewhere. You probably know it as Tommy John Surgery.

Before TJ Surgery, to have a dead arm was a death sentence for a career. Let that sink in and then remember the full implications of that statement:

• Without TJS, Stephen Strasburg‘s career would be done.
• Without TJS, Jim Morris would never have been portrayed by Dennis Quaid in a movie.
• Without TJS, Hyun-Jin Ryu never gets out of high school, much less comes to America and becomes one of the few bright spots of the 2013 Dodgers season.
• Without TJS, Chris Carpenter‘s career probably would have ended on Opening Day, 2007. Adam Wainwright‘s career would have ended in 2011.
• Without TJS, Eric Gagne‘s career probably have ended in the minors. Same goes for Kenny Rogers, C.J. Wilson and David Wells.
• Without TJS, Tim Hudson wouldn’t have won the 55 games he’s won since 2009.
• Without TJS, Phil Humber never has his perfect game. Francisco Liriano doesn’t have his no-hitter. Neither does Anibal Sanchez.
• Without TJS, Kerry Wood‘s career would have been an even bigger “what might have been” than it ended up being.
• Without TJS, John Smoltz‘s career ended in 2000, with 56 wins and 154 saves never happening.
• Without TJS, we MAYBE might never have even heard of Mariano Rivera. (There is some confusion over whether or not Rivera had a TJS in the minors, or if it was a different type of surgery).

Hmm… maybe surgeons should be in the Hall of Fame. At least Jobe should.