Iconic Yankees pitcher Tommy John says voting for Donald Trump may have kept him out of the Hall of Fame

Former MLB pitcher Tommy John said his support of Donald Trump may have kept him from being voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

John was speaking to outlets on the 50th anniversary of the Tommy John surgery, which bares his name after he was the first one to get it in 1974.

At the time, Dr. Frank Jobe reconstructed John’s ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. Jobe was the Los Angeles Dodgers' team surgeon, John's team at the time.

'Maybe because I voted for Donald Trump.'

Appearing on "The Michael Kay Show," New York Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay asked John why, after all these years and stellar statistics, he is not in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

"You're the first one to have this groundbreaking surgery, you also won 288 games ... why are you not in the Hall of Fame?" Kay asked. "I mean, you're such a big part of baseball history."

"Maybe because I voted for Donald Trump," John responded.

"You think that's it?" Kay replied.

"Probably," John said while laughing, perhaps revealing he isn't as serious about the accusation.

"I don't know, I have no idea. If I knew and I could do something, I would do it, but I can't," John added.

However, John was on the Hall of Fame ballot between 1995-2009, before Trump was in office.

Current voting procedures dictate that a player cannot be on future ballots if they have failed on 10 ballots. Previous rules that applied to John allowed for 15 failed ballots, per Baseball Reference.

John stated on "The Dan Patrick Show," however, that he felt his connection to the surgery has contributed to his exclusion from the great honor.

"I think it hurts it. When you look at 288 [wins], and I had 188 no-decisions, the most in baseball history,” John said. "So if you take 288 wins and 188 no-decisions, there's a lot of wins in those no-decisions," he added.

Since John received the revolutionary procedure in 1974, over 1,200 MLB players have reconstructed their elbow, often giving them a new lease on their career after years of damaging their ligaments from pitching.

John pitched into the latter half of his 40s, retiring as a New York Yankee in 1989. He was rather effective all the way up to his final season, pitching with a winning record at the ages of 44 and 45.

He was a four-time All-Star and played for four teams over 26 seasons.

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