After watching AJ Burnett land on the 15 day DL with yet another bout of elbow trouble I realized that first of all, this could be one of the most expensive doctor visits of all time ($55 million is riding on it) but my curiosity actually picked up more on the fact that for as long as I have been a baseball fan I have heard of players going to see the famed “Dr. James Andrews” and I wondered to myself just who is this guy? So I did a little searching and have come across a few articles and interviews to give you a bit more knowledge (or am I the only one who actually cares?). Dr Andrews’ resume is certainly quite full as you can see.

He is a founding member of the Alabama Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center and Chairman and Medical Director of the Alabama Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Institute.

Dr. Andrews is a member of the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Orthopedic Society of Sports medicine, and currently serves as Secretary of that Board. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and International Knee Society. He is Clinical Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Alabama Birmingham Medical School, the University of Virginia School of Medicine, the University of Kentucky Medical Center, and the University of South Carolina Medical School. He has been awarded a Doctor of Laws Degree from Livingston University, Doctor of Sciences Degree from Troy State University and a Doctor of Science Degree from Louisiana State University.

Here is a pretty good Q&A with the Doctor and here a quick little piece by USA Today from 2003 where he talks about the fact that most of the problems guys like Burnett have in the majors comes from the fact that they are worked to the limit while in high school. In that piece Dr. Andrews says,

“What concerns me is we’ve seen these adult baseball injuries go down the ladder into our youth,” he says. “We’re seeing adult injuries in 14- and 15-year-old pitchers. It’s very distressing. “The best pitchers in high school are the ones getting injured. Why? Because they’re the ones being pitched most often. They’re over-pitched.”

There is also a second USA Today piece where they spent a day with Dr. Andrews and an interactive look at just what Tommy John surgery is which I found interesting.

So that’s your little background on perhaps the most famous doctor in sports.