Éric Gagné

Eric Gagné
Texas Rangers – No. 38
Relief Pitcher
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
September 7, 1999, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics (through July 24, 2007)
Win-Loss	27-21
Saves	177
Earned Run Average	3.20
Strikeouts	658
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (1999-2006) Texas Rangers (2007)

Eric Serge Gagné (born January 7, 1976 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, pronounced "GAHN-yay"), is a right-handed relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox. Signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent in 1995, Gagné started his career as a starting pitcher. After struggling in that role, the Dodgers converted Gagné from a starter to a reliever where for three years (2002-2004), he was statistically the most outstanding closer in the game, winning the Cy Young Award in 2003. During that period, he set an MLB record of 84 straight converted save chances.

More recently, he has struggled with injuries, getting Tommy John surgery in 2005 after only appearing in fourteen games that season. Gagné recovered from the surgery in the 2006 season, appearing in two games before injuring his back, missing the year. The Dodgers declined to extend Gagné contract after the 2006 season, making Gagné a free agent. On December 12, 2006, Gagne signed a one year contract with the Rangers worth six million with a chance of getting five million more based on performance.

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. He turned into one of the best closers of all time. Gagne grew up speaking French. During his college years, he had trouble with the language barrier. He persisted and learned English.

Early career

Gagné was a 30th-round draft choice of the Chicago White Sox in 1994 (845th overall), 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. As a student, he taught himself English by watching various TV sitcoms, such as Will & Grace and Kenan & Kel, and pitched for the college's baseball 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 eleven games while losing fourteen in 48 games, 38 of them starts.

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. Gagné had a nasty assortment of pitches he used as a reliever but his most effective were his fastball and change-up. Gagné would set up hitters with his 98 mph fastball and eventually strike them out with his 78 mph "vulcan" change-up.

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 converted 84 consecutive save chances, a major league record. 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. This translated into an incredible 1.66 strikeouts per inning 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. Ironically, he is the only pitcher to win the award while having a losing season (his record was 2-3). Despite this, he lost his arbitration case over the winter.

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.

Prior to the 2007 season, Gagné has converted 161 saves out of 168 save opportunities for a conversion rate of 96.6%, the highest in Major League Baseball history with at least 100 saves.

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 June 3. 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 June 13. A further (and apparently unrelated) setback occurred on July 4, when Gagné awoke with intense pain in his back. An examination revealed two herniated discs, and Gagné underwent a season-ending back surgery on July 8.

Texas Rangers

Eric Gagné

The Dodgers declined to extend Gagné's $12 million contract after the season, making him a free agent. Gagné started to make his recovery by tossing in three minor league games, two of them on consecutive days, allowing a home run and having one loss. In his last minor league game, Gagné retired all three of the batters he faced, and he was activated on April 13.

In his first week back, Gagné pitched three innings, earning one save. But in the middle of his second save situation, Gagné left the game after complaining of leg pain. He said that it would take about a week to recover from the injury, but the Rangers, not taking the risk, placed Gagné on the disabled list with a hip injury. He was reactivated on May 8 and returned to the closer role. So far this season Gagné is 2-0 with 15 saves and a 2.23 earned run average in 33 games.

See also

• List of players from Canada in Major League Baseball
• Players from Québec in MLB
• List of MLB individual streaks
• List of Major League Baseball saves champions
• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders

External links

• Template:Mlb.com
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
• Template:Espn mlb
• The Baseball Cube - Major and Minor League Statistics
• Detailed biography of Gagné