Dr. Lewis Yocum, 'Tommy John' surgery specialist, dies at 66

ANAHEIM, Calif., May 28 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Angels team physician Dr. Lewis Yocum, who helped perfect "Tommy John" ligament replacement surgery, has died, the team said Tuesday. He was 66.

Yocum died after a battle with liver cancer, the Angels said in a statement.

"Dr. Yocum's impact in the medical field will long be remembered across the country," the statement read. "The list of careers he extended is endless."

As a member of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic in Los Angeles, Yocum was a specialist at the ulnar collateral ligament replacement procedure first done by Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974 on then-Dodgers pitcher Tommy John.

The procedure helped revive John's career and has since been performed on many major league pitchers.

Yocum's last high-profile Tommy John surgery was performed on Washington Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg in 2010.