Eric Gagne
Eric Gagne was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on January 7th, 1976 and is the Baseball Player. At the age of 48, Eric Gagne biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 48 years old, Eric Gagne has this physical status:
Éric Serge Gagné (born January 7, 1976) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher.
Gagné started his career as a starting pitcher after signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) as a free agent in 1995.
After failing in that role, the Dodgers converted Gagné from a starter to a reliever, where he was the game's best closer for three years (2002-2004). He received the Cy Young Award in 2003.
He set a new school record by winning 84 consecutive save opportunities during that time.
The Dodgers and the media often used the term "game over" in connection with his appearances and then-close games. Gagné played sparingly in 2005 and 2006 due to injuries, undergoing elbow surgery in 2005 and back surgery in 2006.
After 2006, the Dodgers did not re-sign him, and Gagné's 2007 season with the Texas Rangers, where he briefly enjoyed success as a closer.
However, he was less effective in stints with the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers, and was eventually fired after the 2008 season. He was credited to baseball's steroids epidemic in December 2007, days after signing a contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008.
Early life
Gagné comes from a Québécois family and grew up in Mascouche, near Montreal. He played baseball and ice hockey at Polyvalente Édouard-Montpetit High School in Montreal, the same high school Russell Martin attended as a youth.
Richard's father, Richard, coached his Little League teams. He earned his nickname as a member of Canada's Junior World Championship teams. Throughout his youth, he was a fan of the Montreal Expos and Montreal Canadiens.
Personal life
Gagné and his ex-wife Valerie (née Hervieux) have four children: two daughters and two sons. Paul Gagné, his father's uncle, played in the NHL for several seasons.
College career
In Seminole, Oklahoma, Gagné attended Seminole Junior College. Gagné learned little English as a French-speaking Canadian providence; he became fluent in English by watching American television while in college, mainly the sitcom Kenan and Kel. He eventually became Seminole's baseball team's starting pitcher.
Professional career
In the 1994 MLB draft, he was a 30th-round draft pick (845th overall) of the Chicago White Sox, but he later signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent. Gagne lasted in the minor leagues until 1997, but he missed the entire 1997 season due to Tommy John surgery.
He made his MLB debut on September 7, starting a game for the Dodgers against the Florida Marlins, throwing six shutout innings and striking out eight. He appeared in just five games as a starting pitcher in his first year in baseball, with a 1–1 record and a 2.10 ERA. He won eleven games in his first three seasons, but lost fourteen in 48 games, 38 of whom started.
He was converted from a starting pitcher to a relief pitcher at the start of the 2002 season. On April 7, he made his first appearance against the Colorado Rockies and soon became the National League's top reliever. He won ten games in a row before making his first blow save against the Atlanta Braves on May 7. He was named in his first All-Star Game this year, becoming Quebec's second player to be named an All-Star (the first being Claude Raymond). He was a two-run homer to Alfonso Soriano in the fifth, allowing the AL to cut the NL lead to 4–2. He made 52 saves for the season in total.
Gagné was called 55 times to save a baseball game and converted every one of them en route to become both the first pitcher to earn more than 50 saves in less than a season and the fastest pitcher to ever reach the 100-save plateau in 2003. His 55 saves in 2003 tied for the highest National League record set by John Smoltz in the previous season. He converted 84 straight save attempts between August 26, 2002 and July 5, 2004, a major league record. More than half (55%) of the batters he retired during the 2003 season were struck out.
The word "Game Over" would flash across the scoreboard and PA system as Gagné entered a game at Dodger Stadium, often in the eighth or ninth inning with the Dodgers in the lead.
Gagné's 2003 season ended with a 1.20 earned run average and 20 walks in 82+3 innings pitched, in addition to his 55 saves. This translated into 1.66 strikeouts per inning pitched. He received the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award for his efforts, and he became the first relief pitcher in 11 years to receive the Cy Young Award in 2011. He and Ferguson Jenkins are the only two Canadian pitchers to win the most coveted pitching award in baseball. He was the only pitcher to win the award despite being out of money (his record was 2–3). As a result, he asked for a 14-fold increase from $550,000 to $8 million in the off-season, but eventually settled for $5 million.
In a 5–2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks, his 130th save in team history came just 10 days after his save streak came to an end. Gagné threw three shutout innings in his first appearance in the playoffs, but the Dodgers lost the division series 3–1 to the St. Louis Cardinals, but that was not in the playoffs that year.
Gagné had converted 161 saves out of 168 save chances for a conversion rate of 95 percent prior to the 2007 season.
In early 2005, Gagné sustained multiple injuries. Despite being a good pitcher with a 2.70 ERA and 8 for 8 save opportunities, Gagné was only able to play in 14 games this season. Gagné will need Tommy John surgery to repair a sprained ligament in his right elbow, which was confirmed on June 20, 2005. Recovery is expected to take a year or more; more importantly, a return to major league pitching after a second Tommy John operation (Gagné's first was in 1997) is almost unheard of, having since been achievable by another Dodger reliever, Taiwanese left-hander Hong-Chih Kuo. Nevertheless, when surgeons began to perform the procedure, they discovered instead a nerve entrapped by scar tissue and were able to release it with a less invasive method. Gagné was also unable to participate for the remainder of the 2005 season.
Gagné expressed optimism that an accelerated recovery would qualify him to pitch for Canada in the World Baseball Classic in March 2006, but he later decided that it wasn't worth the risk and to concentrate on preparing to pitch in the regular season.
After some promising outings in early spring preparations, Gagné's pitching elbow forced him to have a second operation, this time to remove entirely the nerve that doctors had failed to restore. More recovery time followed, but Gagné pitched in his first regular-season game of 2006 on June 3. He made two appearances for the Dodgers, pitching two scoreless innings and one save, but he later developed an elbow injury, which forced him to leave the disabled list on June 12. On July 4, Gagné awakened with a raging back. It was unrelated to a previous (and possibly unrelated) setback. Two herniated discs were discovered during an examination, and Gagné underwent back surgery on July 8.
After the season, the Dodgers were unable to prolong Gagné's $12 million contract, making him a free agent. Gagné completed a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers worth $6 million, as well as a potential $5 million in performance compensation on December 12, 2006. Gagné had a bad spring preparation, with five earned runs in just three innings of work. Gagné was on the disabled list for the third year in a row to help him recover from his injury. Gagné started to recover by playing in three minor league games, two of which were on consecutive days, allowing a home run and losing one. Gagné retired all three of the batters he faced in his last minor league game, and he was activated on April 13.
Gagné pitched three innings in his first week back, with just one save. But Gagné left the game after complaining of leg pains, which put him in the middle of his second save situation. He estimated that it would take about a week to recover from the injury, but the Rangers, who weren't afraid to take the chance, put Gagné on the disabled list with a hip injury. On May 8th, he was revived and returned to his more prominent role. He was 2–0 with 16 saves and a 2.16 ERA during his time in Texas, and opposing hitters batted only.192 against him.
Gagné was traded to the Boston Red Sox for pitcher Kason Gabbard and minor league outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltré on July 31, 2007. Gagné had been supposed to be a setup man for Jonathan Papelbon, the closer. According to Theo Epstein, "I think the bullpen is already a strength for the team, but recruiting a pitcher with the caliber of Éric Gagné only makes it better and helps ensure we have what we hope to be a truly dominant bullpen for the remainder of the year."
However, Gagné did not do well in his new role with the Red Sox. Gagné made 14 earned runs in 14 innings (a 9.00 ERA) with three blown saves and an opponent batting average of over.350 in his first 15 appearances.
Gagné continued to improve down the stretch and was eventually recalled to the playoff roster. He was most often used in games in which the Red Sox were winning by a large margin, including his first World Series appearance in which he pitched a flawless ninth inning in a 13–1 victory. His only exception to this was his appearance against the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series. After allowing the first two runs of a 7-run 11th inning, Gagné lost the game in the top of the 11th inning.
In Boston, Gagné wore the number 83 as starting pitcher Curt Schilling wore Gagné's number 38.
Gagné and the Milwaukee Brewers reached a preliminary deal on December 9, 2007. He signed the one-year contract on December 10 to become their new closer. The one-year contract had a base salary of $10 million, with bonuses worth up to an additional $1 million. After wearing 83 in Boston, Gagné returned to wearing the number 38.
After three blown saves in six attempts, Brewers manager Ned Yost announced on May 11 that Gagné will be suspended from the closer's role for a while. After a few days, Gagné suggested that he was ready to return to his role as closer, and a few days later, he earned his 10th save. Gagné, on the other hand, continued to fail as the team's closer and ultimately became the team's setup man after losing his closest job to veteran Salomón Torres. Gagné's escalating out of the bullpen, but he eventually lost his set-up position to Guillermo Mota. He ended the season as a middle relief pitcher, a position in which he still struggled.
Gagné's last season in the major leagues was 2008: ten saves in 17 appearances, an ERA of 5.41, and 38 strikeouts in 46 innings. After losing the closer job to Torres, he did not convert a savings. Many Brewers fans regard his poor on the field and his high salary as a "ten million dollar mistake."
Following the 2008 season, Gagné became a free agent. He re-signed with the Brewers on a minor league contract. He was forced to leave midway through spring training due in part to a shoulder injury.
Gagné announced on May 26, 2009, that he had signed with the Quebec Capitales of the Can-Am League as a starting pitcher/coach. Gagné joined the team on June 9, 2009. Capitales manager Michel Laplante had praised him for his tireless service and mentorship of other pitchers and hitters on the team. In September 2009, Gagné was a member of the National Football Team who defeated the team in the League Championship. In a 7-inning game against the New Jersey Jackals on July 26, 2009, he had 6 no-hit innings. He will take two straight hits. However, the team will finish the game on a triple play.
Gagné decided to a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers on February 18, 2010 and was given an invite to spring training. Ramón Troncoso, the Dodgers' recalled that releasing Gagné's old uniform number 38, "had no problem" releasing him to Gagné, remembering Gagné's mentorship of young pitchers like himself during Gagné's time with the Dodgers. Gagné made three spring training appearances with the Dodgers, allowing six runs on eight hits in 2+2/3 innings for a 20.25 ERA. He was reassigned to minor league camp on March 15, acknowledging that he needed more work to bring his game back to the Major Leagues. Gagné, who was suspended from the Dodgers after playing in just one minor league intra-squad game following his demotion, was released on March 21 in the hopes that he would have another chance with another franchise. However, he announced his resignation on April 18, 2010.
Gagné appeared in a game with the Trois-Rivières Aigles of the independent Can-Am League on August 28, 2015, six years after his last participation in professional baseball. Gagné was out of two strikes in 4+13 innings, allowing just one run and two hits but giving up 5 walks to the opposite team, the Quebec Capitales, in a 5–3 victory over the Aigles.
Gagné pitched for the Ottawa Champions of the Can-Am League on September 5, 2016, attracting nearly 8,000 fans.
On January 14, 2017, it was announced that Gagne and retired pitcher Ryan Dempster would join the Team Canada pitching staff for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
Gagne revealed that he was considering returning to Major League Baseball ahead of the 2017 season. After working out with the Dodgers during spring training and pitching in the WBC, he signed an agreement with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. On May 21, 2017, he announced his resignation again.
Coaching career
Gagné, a Canadian and whose native language is French, served as the pitching coach for the France national baseball team during the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifiers. France failed to win a game and did not qualify for the main tournament.
Gagné was appointed head coach of France's national baseball team in the fall of 2013. Under Gagne, the team finished in sixth place in the 2014 European Championships. In Panama, France qualified in the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers.
Gagné returned to the Texas Rangers organization in 2018 as a pitching coach for the Arizona League Rangers of the rookie-level Arizona League. Gagné was promoted to bullpen coach of the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 2019. Following the 2019 season, Gagné was released by the Rangers organization.
