Éric Gagné
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Éric Serge Gagné (born January 7, 1976 in Montreal, Québec, Canada), pronounced "GAHN-yay", is a right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball. He has played his entire career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. For three years (2002-2004), he was one of the most outstanding closers in the game, winning the Cy Young Award in 2003 (a rare feat for a reliever). More recently, he has struggled with injuries.
Early Life
From a French-Canadian family, Gagné grew up playing ice hockey in his small hometown of Mascouche, located not far from Montreal. A fan of the Montreal Expos, he started playing baseball as well as hockey. As a teenager he was a brilliant pitcher in high school, eventually becoming a star with Canada's Junior World Championship teams.
Minor Leagues
Gagné was a 38th-round draft choice of the Chicago White Sox in 1994, but the following year he signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent. Gagné, who spoke only French, went to study at Seminole Junior College in Seminole, Oklahoma. Remarkably, he taught himself English while a student and pitched for the college's "Trojans" ball team.
He then went on to pitch in the minor leagues but missed the entire 1997 season due to Tommy John surgery. He joined the Los Angeles Dodgers team for a part of the 1999 season; in his first year in the major leagues, he appeared in only five games as a starting pitcher. Over his first three seasons he met with only mediocre success, winning 11 games while losing 14. At one point, the Montreal Expos offered a trade to the Dodgers which would have sent outfielder Milton Bradley for Gagné, but the Dodgers backed out at the last moment.
Major League Success
At the start of the 2002 season, he was converted from a starting pitcher to a relief pitcher, and soon became the National League's leading reliever, earning 52 saves for the season.
In 2003, as a closer, Gagné was called upon 55 times to save a baseball game and converted every one of them en route to becoming both the first pitcher to record 50 saves in more than one season and also the fastest pitcher to ever reach the 100-save plateau. His 55 saves in 2003 also equaled the National League record set the previous season by John Smoltz. Between August 26, 2002 and July 5, 2004, he saved 84 consecutive games – another major league record. Remarkably, more than half (55%) of the batters he retired during the 2003 season came by strikeout.
Gagné finished the 2003 season with an 1.20 earned run average and had 137 strikeouts and 20 walks in 82 1/3 innings pitched. For his performance, he won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award and became the first relief pitcher in 11 years to win the Cy Young Award. With Ferguson Jenkins, he is one of only two Canadian pitchers to win the most prestigious pitching award in baseball.
On July 15, 2004 – just ten days after his saves streak ended – Gagné collected his 130th save as a Dodger in a 5-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona, surpassing Jeff Shaw for the most career saves in team history.
Injuries
Gagné battled injuries of several kinds in early 2005, pitching in only 14 games, though still very well (2.70 ERA, 8 saves in 8 opportunities). On June 21, 2005, it was announced that Gagné would undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery to repair a sprained ligament in his right elbow. Recovery would take a year or more; furthermore, a return to major league pitching after a second Tommy John operation (Gagné's first was in 1997) is still unprecedented. However, as surgeons began to perform the operation, they discovered instead a nerve entrapped by scar tissue and were able to release it with a less invasive procedure. Gagné was still unable to play for the remainder of the 2005 season.
Gagné expressed hope that an accelerated recovery would allow him to pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic in March 2006, but he eventually decided that it was not worth the risk, and to focus on preparing to pitch in the regular season.
After some encouraging outings in early spring training, pain in Gagné's pitching elbow forced him to undergo a second surgery, this time to remove entirely the nerve that doctors had previously attempted to stabilize. More recovery time ensued, but Gagné finally pitched in his first regular-season game of 2006 on 3 June. He made two appearances for the Dodgers, pitching two scoreless innings and earning one save, but pain from the nerve in his elbow recurred, and he returned to the disabled list on 13 June. A further (and apparently unrelated) setback occurred on 4 July, when Gagné awoke with intense pain in his back. An examination revealed two herniated discs, and Gagné underwent a season-ending back surgery on 8 July. [link]
Future
It is now uncertain whether Gagné will ever return to pitching form. And even if he does, it is not certain that he will be with the Dodgers, the only team he has ever played for. Gagné's current contract includes a team option for 2007, and the Dodgers are almost certain to exercise a $1 million buyout rather than pay his $12 million salary when his status is so uncertain. Thus, Gagné will likely become a free agent, and could re-sign with the Dodgers or with any other team.
Trivia
- The Dodgers flash the words "Game Over" on the electronic screens in the ballpark whenever he enters a game.
- His entrance music is "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns n Roses.
- In a statistical oddity, Gagné had three consecutive seasons of exactly 82.1 innings pitched. []
- On 6 June 2006, he and catcher Russell Martin became the first all-Canadian-born battery (pitcher/catcher unit) in a MLB game.
See also
External links
- [Baseball-Reference.com] - career statistics and analysis
- [Eric Gagne] at ESPN.com
- [The Baseball Cube] - Major and Minor League Statistics
- [Detailed biography of Gagné]
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