Inductees

Dr. Robert Hyland was a long-time physician for the St. Louis Cardinals. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Lou Gehrig were some of his famous patients who benefited from his pioneering methods in sports medicine.

Hyland was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but received his M.D. from St. Louis University in 1911. Pitching injuries fascinated him and he offered his expertise free of charge not only to the St. Louis Cardinals but also to the St. Louis Browns and numerous other teams.

Due to his outstanding service to the pitchers of Major League Baseball, Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis dubbed him the “Surgeon General of Baseball,” a nickname that stuck for the rest of his life.

Although Hyland worked wonders on pitchers who had lost strength or range of motion in their pitching arms, he also advised all players against trick pitches and to stick with pitching styles that closely matched their natural movements. This, he said, would prevent many of the injuries that he saw in his patients.

Hyland’s day job was as chief surgeon for the St. Louis Public Service Company.