Retired MLB All-Star Tommy John, 77, is hospitalized with COVID-19 and has been on oxygen - but he thinks it's unnecessary and his anti-vaxxer son is denying that the pandemic is real

Tommy John, the former Major League All-Star pitcher and namesake of a common elbow surgery, has contracted COVID-19, but is insisting that he is fine despite being placed on oxygen.

John, 77, told the Daily Beast about his current health situation from a hospital bed near his Indio, California home, claiming that he would 'leave right now' if he were allowed.

'You're either going to live or you're going to die,' he said.

Tommy John , the former Major League All-Star pitcher and namesake of a common elbow surgery, has contracted COVID-19, but is insisting that he is fine despite being placed on oxygen at a California hospital. His son Tommy John III is a pandemic denier

John famously underwent elbow surgery in 1976 to repair ligament damage. The surgery was a success and he pitched 14 more seasons, mostly with the Yankees. Tommy John surgery, as it's now called, is credited with saving countless pitchers' careers

John's skepticism about vaccines and medicine is peculiar for an athlete who has become synonymous with medical advancement after his 1976 elbow procedure allowed him to return prominence and play another 14 seasons, garnering three All-Star selections over that time. 'I've known and loved Tommy John since 1979,' former sportscaster Keith Olbermann joked on Twitter. 'Looks like now it's his brain that needs Tommy John Surgery'

However, his longtime girlfriend Cheryl Zeldin told the Daily Beast that his situation is much more complicated. 

As he later confirmed to the Daily Beast, John has been hospitalized four times since he began having breathing problems and motor control issues in early December. And on one occasion, his oxygen saturation dropped dangerously low.

But when asked if he really needs to remain on oxygen, John snapped back: 'These people here would put you on anything!'

He also questioned whether or not his symptoms were related to COVID-19.

It's a peculiar stance for an athlete who has become synonymous with medical advancement after his 1976 elbow procedure allowed him to return prominence and play another 14 seasons, garnering three All-Star selections over that time. (Tommy John surgery is now a common fix for pitchers battling elbow ligament damage)

John's longtime girlfriend Cheryl Zeldin told the Daily Beast that she expects him to get the coronavirus vaccine when it's available

'I've known and loved Tommy John since 1979,' former sportscaster Keith Olbermann joked on Twitter. 'Looks like now it's his brain that needs Tommy John Surgery.'

However, John's skepticism is tame compared to his son, chiropractor Dr. Tommy John III, who is an outspoken pandemic denier.

'We are clear on the fact that there is no pandemic, right?' asked John III in a self-recorded social media video in which he's seen walking shirtless down a sunny street. 

'There's nobody still thinking that this thing is real? I just wanted to make sure because it appears that there are some that are still fighting for it and who believe that it's a true story and not a deeper, darker, more sinister plan for the world.' 

In another video, John III calls for 'the global population' to stop masking children, going so far as to write a prescription despite the fact that chiropractors are not legally permitted to do so.

'Germs don't cause disease,' John III wrote on January 3. 'Vaccines don't eradicate anything but healthy children.'

The former pitcher is not quite a pandemic denier, according to the Daily Beast, but he does share his son's views on vaccines.

'The last time I was vaccinated was when I was like eight-years-old,' he said. 'Does that make me bad?'

Despite that stance, Zeldin told the Daily Beast that she will insist that John get the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available.

'He's getting it, trust me,' said Zeldin, who has overcome COVID-19, herself. 'We're not going to tell Tommy John you're getting it, but you're getting it.'

John's skepticism is tame compared to his son, chiropractor Dr. Tommy John III, who is an outspoken pandemic denier. 'We are clear on the fact that there is no pandemic, right?' asked John III in a self-recorded social media video in which he's seen walking shirtless down a sunny street. 'There's nobody still thinking that this thing is real? I just wanted to make sure because it appears that there are some that are still fighting for it and who believe that it's a true story and not a deeper, darker, more sinister plan for the world'