Éric Gagné: Early career[edit] Gagné, who spoke only French, went to Seminole Junior College in Seminole, Oklahoma.[2][5] He taught himself English by watching the sitcom Kenan and Kel.[6] He eventually became the star pitcher for Seminoles baseball team.[2] He 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. Los Angeles Dodgers[edit] He then went on to pitch in the minor leagues but missed the entire 1997 season due to Tommy John surgery.[5] He made his Major League debut on September 7, when he started a game for the Dodgers against the Florida Marlins, working six shutout innings and striking out eight. In his first year in the major leagues, he appeared in only five games as a starting pitcher, with a 1–1 record and 2.10 ERA. Over his first three seasons he won eleven games while losing fourteen in 48 games, 38 of them starts.[7] At the start of the 2002 season, following the retirement of Dodgers closer Jeff Shaw, he was converted from a starting pitcher to a relief pitcher. He picked up his first career save on April 7 against the Colorado Rockies and soon became the National Leagues leading reliever. He saved 10 consecutive games before he suffered his first blown save on May 7 against the Atlanta Braves. Overall, he earned 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 converted 84 consecutive save chances, a major league record.[8] More than half (55%) of the batters he retired during the 2003 season came by strikeout. When Gagné entered a game at Dodger Stadium, usually in the eighth or ninth inning with the Dodgers in the lead, the words Game Over would flash across the scoreboard and the PA system would play the song Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N Roses. In addition to his 55 saves, Gagné finished the 2003 season with a 1.20 earned run average and had 137 strikeouts and 20 walks in 82⅓ innings pitched. This translated into 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. He and Ferguson Jenkins are the only two Canadian pitchers to win the most prestigious pitching award in baseball. He is the only pitcher to win the award while having a losing season (his record was 2–3).[9] Despite this, he lost his arbitration case over the winter; he had asked for a 14-fold raise from $550,000 to $8 million but had to settle for $5 million.[10] 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. Gagné threw three shutout innings during his first appearance in the playoffs that year, but the Dodgers lost the division series 3–1 to the St. Louis Cardinals. Prior to the 2007 season, Gagné had converted 161 saves out of 168 save opportunities for a conversion rate of 96.6%, the highest in Major League Baseball history for a pitcher with at least 100 saves.[7] Injuries[edit] Gagné battled several injuries in early 2005. Although he was still an effective pitcher, 2.70 ERA and 8 for 8 in save opportunities, Gagné was only able to appear in 14 games that season. 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 (Gagnés first was in 1997) is nearly unprecedented, having since been achieved by another Dodger reliever, the Taiwanese left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo. 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 Gagnés 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 12. 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.[11] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89ric_Gagn%C3%A9
Posted on: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:01:05 +0000
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