Terre Haute legend Tommy John, who's been battling illness for quite some time, wrote a letter to the fans that the New York Yankees posted on social media Saturday as part of their 78th Old-Timers' Day.John, 83, was unable to attend the live festivities at Yankee Stadium. He has lived in Florida with his wife Cheryl for the last few years."A Letter from Tommy John" started with "I want to thank the Yankees organization & the Steinbrenner family for giving me this opportunity to say goodbye to everyone, along with all the friends & fans who followed me throughout my 26-year career."A two-sport standout at Terre Haute Gerstmeyer in the late 1950s and early 1960s once scoring a school-record 47 points in a basketball game as a senior the 6-foot-3 John signed with the Cleveland Indians' organization as a pitcher in 1961.Although young adults may know of John from the elbow surgery named after him performed by the late Dr. Frank Jobe on John's left arm in September 1974 he enjoyed a 26-year Major League Baseball career that included four All-Star Game selections and stints with six different teams.They were the Indians (1963-64), Chicago White Sox (1965-71), Los Angeles Dodgers (1972-79, missing the 1975 season because of the surgery), the Yankees (1979-82 and 1986-89), California Angels (part of 1982-85) and Oakland Athletics (part of 1985).John complied a career record of 288-231 with a 3.34 earned-run average, posting the second-most victories of any 20th or 21st Century pitcher not inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The highest win total by any non-Hall of Famer was 354 by Roger Clemens, whose candidacy has been stalled because of ties to performance-enhancing drugs.John's letter continued: "I want to thank Dr. Jobe, who saved my arm & made it possible for me to continue pitching. That surgery has since gone on to save the careers of countless pitchers, including many of the very best in the game today."Thank you to all the fans who supported me & my teammates for 26 years. I will never forget you."John mentioned in the letter that on the first day he left home for his first "job" as a pitcher, his father Thomas John Sr., who later died in 2001 told him: "Good luck, Tommy. Just remember one thing: Whether you make it big in the big leagues or you don't, you'll always be Tommy John from Terre Haute, Indiana."John's closing message in the letter is as follows: "I've never forgotten those words. Thank you & God bless."He signed it "Tommy John (TJ)" with the Yankees' logo below it.John won 91 games in two separate stints with the Yankees.