"Let's Do It" Foundation, dedicated to raising awareness about suicides and preventing them. John's oldest son, Tommy III, played baseball for the Furman University Paladins. He was a 4-year letterman for the Paladins, leading the team in complete games as a pitcher in 1997 (3 games) and in home runs (9) in 1999, a year in which he was named an All-Southern Conference player. In 2000, he became one of three players in the history of Furman's varsity baseball team to hit for the cycle, doing so on April 1 against the Appalachian State Mountaineers. After graduating from Furman, he spent two seasons in the independent minor leagues as a pitcher for the Tyler Roughnecks and Schaumburg Flyers. John is a chiropractor and went on to write a book, Minimize Injury, Maximize Performance: A Sports Parent's Survival Guide, which discusses the injury risk associated with young athletes specializing in one specific sport and suggests ways to prevent youth from ever having to undergo major sports-related surgery, such as Tommy John surgery. John's hometown of Terre Haute, Indiana, presented him a key to the city on September 1, 1989, and Indiana governor Evan Bayh presented him with the Sagamore of the Wabash, Indiana's highest honor. On October 24, 2013, the Terre Haute Parks Department honored John by renaming Spencer Field after him. The complex was the site of John's last non-professional game in 1961, when he was a member of the Terre Haute Gerstmeyer High School Black Cats. John eventually overcame his stuttering problem and earned a reputation as one of baseball's most talkative players. "Ask Tommy John what time it is, and he'll tell you how to make a watch," said Lemon. Following his career, he became a motivational speaker. He has no relation to the Tommy John Underwear company and considered suing the founder over the use of his name but abandoned the idea after attorneys wanted $250,000 to represent him. As of 2019, he was no longer watching baseball, considering the game unrecognizable. He was inducted into the Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals in 2018. Bibliography The Tommy John Story, F.H. Revell Company, 1978. . (With Sally John and Joe Musser, foreword by Tommy Lasorda.) The Sally and Tommy John Story: Our Life in Baseball, Macmillan, 1983. . (With Sally John.) TJ: My Twenty-Six Years in Baseball, Bantam, 1991. . (With Dan Valenti.) See also List of