at season's end, John tied with three others for seventh in the NL in wins and led the NL with a .696 winning percentage. He recorded 116 strikeouts, 50 walks, and 202 hits allowed in 218 innings of work. John began 1974 as the Dodgers' number two starter, behind Don Sutton in the rotation. He threw a shutout against the Padres in his first start on April 6, then threw eight shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves four days later. On April 25, he held the Phillies to four hits and no runs in a complete game shutout that the Dodgers won 1–0. The win was his fifth in five games. After a loss on May 5, he won five decisions in a row, not losing again until June 18. From June 28 through July 7, he won three straight starts. 1974–1975: The injury, the surgery, the recovery In the middle of an excellent 1974 season, John had a 13–3 record as the Dodgers were en route to their first NL pennant in eight years. He led the NL in wins coming into the All-Star break but was left off the roster, as the Dodgers already had Andy Messersmith and Mike Marshall on the team. "If I don't belong on the team, there is no justice in baseball," John said on July 17. "It really sets you back. I've had a great year, I've worked hard and yet I can't even get picked for the All-Star team." Bigger disappointment followed for John in that evening's game against the Montreal Expos. With the Dodgers leading 4–0 in the third inning, John tried to throw a sinking fastball to Hal Breeden. Suddenly, he felt the "strangest sensation I had ever known...right at the point where I put force on the pitch, the point where my arm is back and bent, something happened," he explained. "It felt as if I had left my arm someplace else. It was as if my body continued to go forward and my left arm had just flown out to right field, independent of the rest of me." John had permanently damaged the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm; he threw one more pitch before having manager Walt Alston remove him from the game. Initially, he was uncertain how serious the injury was; Dr. Frank Jobe, the Dodgers' team physician, advised John to rest the arm for