Angels’ C.J. Wilson can thank Dr. Lewis Yocum for 200-inning season

That C.J. Wilson surpassed the 200-inning mark for the fourth consecutive season on Sunday is as much a testament to Dr. Lewis Yocum, the longtime Angels physician who died of liver cancer at age 65 in May, as it is to the left-handed pitcher’s durability.

Yocum, who saved the careers of hundreds of professional baseball players, performed Tommy John surgery on Wilson’s elbow in 2003, after Wilson had completed his third season in the Texas Rangers organization.

Yocum also performed two cleanup procedures on Wilson’s elbow, one in 2008, after Wilson’s second year as a Rangers reliever, and another last October, following Wilson’s first season with the Angels after signing a five-year, $77.5-million deal with the team.

“He’s done all my surgeries, and I’ve always bounced back,” said Wilson, who fell to 17-7 with a 3.36 earned-run average after Sunday’s 3-2 loss to the Seattle Mariners, a game in which he gave up three runs and eight hits in 8¿ innings, struck out nine and walked one, and had his nine-game winning streak broken.

“He was the best in the game,” Wilson added. “I used to joke with him that I’d get him to sign my elbow, then I’d get it tattooed. Every pitch I’ve ever thrown in the major leagues has been because of his handiwork. He’s done billions of dollars in salary repair.”

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