By Bob Markus

Early Wynn is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Tommy John isn't. Red Ruffing is in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Tommy John isn't. And now it looks like he may never be. Not in this lifetime. Baseball's original bionic man, the only player in major league history to have a surgical procedure named for him, was booted off the Hall of Fame ballot yesterday, named on only 171 of the 539 ballots. It was the 15th time that the born-again (in the baseball sense) lefty had been rejected by the voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

That throws him into the merciless hands of the Veteran's committee, which meets only every two years and seemingly hasn't selected anyone for admittance since Connie Mack was catching barehanded for the Washington Statesmen. If Tommy thinks he's going to get into the Hall of Fame through the back door any time soon, he should talk to Ron Santo.

If Early Wynn is in the Hall of Fame, Tommy John belongs there. If Red Ruffing is in the Hall of Fame, Tommy John belongs there. I'm not picking on Wynn or Ruffing, nor am I questioning their credentials. I'm sure I could find other examples. But Wynn and Ruffing had careers that closely paralleled John's. Wynn had 300 victories, even though he struggled to get that 300th as mightily as Sisyphus pushing the rock up the mountain. He finally got it on a five and fly and immediately retired. He also had 244 losses, giving him an over-all winning percentage of ,551, slightly lower than John's .555. Ruffing had 273 career wins and a winning percentage of .548. Both Hall of Famers had earned run averages considerably higher than Tommy's .334.

Tommy John finished his 26-year career with 288 wins, which is seventh highest all time for a left hander. The other six are all in the Hall of Fame. He also had a 6-2 record in the postseason. I know that numbers should not always be the determining factor and, in fact, I tend not to vote for players who have longer careers than a Boston politician unless their numbers simply overwhelm me. I'm also aware that there are numbers within numbers. For instance, Sandy Koufax, whom I consider the greatest pitcher of all time, had only 165 career victories. Just 36 of them came in the first six years of a 12-year career. But he led the league in earned run average for his last five seasons and had 97 wins in his last four years.

Then there's Ralph Kiner. For years I questioned whether he belonged in the Hall of Fame. His 369 career home runs is not an impressive number and he played only 10 seasons, the bare minimum for Hall of Fame consideration. But then I look at the fact that he won the National league home run title seven years in a row, beginning in his rookie year and twice had more than 50. On the other hand I always thought Enos Slaughter belonged on the basis of his nickname alone. Country Slaughter. What a name for a ball player! Playing mostly for the St. Louis Cardinals he's probably best known for scoring the game and Series winning run from first base on a single by Harry Walker in the 1946 World Series. He was not a great slugger (169 career homers),probably was a racist, and Eddie Stanky, who managed him for a time in St Louis, detested him, but it's hard to erase the image of the swashbuckling, hard-playing country boy.

Chicago Cubs shortstop Joe Tinker, with his .263 lifetime batting average, probably owes his Hall of Fame status to a poem, but his partners in crime, second baseman Johnny Evers and first baseman Frank Chance both sport Hall of Fame numbers. So there are all sorts of reasons that go beyond numbers for letting a player through the magic door. Which brings us back to what should have been Tommy John's trump card--the surgery; Tommy John surgery. Lou Gehrig had a disease named after him, but he had to die for it. John's surgery, which came in 1974, gave him new life as a pitcher. It also gave hope to countless pitchers who came after him.

The surgery took place in 1974 after John, off to a 13-3 start for the Los Angeles Dodgers, tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow. Using tendon tissue from the pitcher's right arm, Dr.Frank Jobe repaired the injured elbow. It was a first of its kind surgery, but now is an almost routine option for sore-armed pitchers. Before the operation, John was considered a fastball pitcher. Afterwards, he had to change his style, winning more on guts and guile, outhinking the hitters rather than overwhelming them. He managed to win 164 games that way.

So today, I congratulate Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice for their election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. I only wish Tommy John had joined them.