While the song Welcome to the Jungle played as it did in the loudspeakers, Quebecer Éric Gagné stepped onto the mound and threw a catch on Wednesday night as the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated the 20the his 84th birthdaye consecutive rescue.
“Every time I step on this field, it’s like walking into a church,” he said. “My office was on top of that mound, and to be here in a stadium this iconic — where Tommy Lasorda, Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax all played — I have to admit it’s humbling.”
The one who caught Gagné’s offering was current Dodgers tight end Evan Phillips. Manager Dave Roberts declined his former teammate’s request to sit behind the plate, but they did share a hug. “I don’t know what shot he’s going to take, and I don’t want him to embarrass me,” said Roberts, who played with Gagné from 2002-04.
The save streak is still the longest in major league history. It lasted 87 and two-thirds innings, during which the Quebecer struck out 139 batters without ever allowing one of the 123 runners who reached the base to cross the plate. He allowed a total of two runs, and no home runs.
“It was unbelievable; the guys had no chance,” Roberts said. “I remember standing in center field and regularly daring myself to take my glove off when he threw his pitch.”
Gagné accepted the Dodgers’ offer as a free agent in 1995, and he began his career in a starting role. But after struggling on the mound, he was converted to a reliever.
It was from there that his career took off. Between 2002 and 2004, Gagné was the most dominant finisher in the Major Leagues, and he won the National League Cy Young Award in 2003. He made three All-Star games during that span, and finished his career with 187 saves.
He also pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 2007, when they won the World Series.
In December of that year, however, Gagné was linked to the major league steroid scandal, even being named in the Mitchell Report. In 2010, he admitted to taking growth hormones, under the pretext that they helped him treat a knee injury.
Today, Gagné is tanned from his many rounds of golf and regular bike rides in Arizona, where he lives. The 48-year-old credited the work of his teammates, including Roberts and Shawn Green, for helping him get on such an unstoppable streak.
“A lot of it was luck, and the defense behind me was incredible,” he recalled. “People call it a save, but I call it a preserved win. That was my philosophy. I didn’t feel the pressure, because I wasn’t really concerned about sabotage. I was focused on helping the guys.”
Roberts helped him, too. One night in Houston, he robbed Lance Berkman of a ninth-inning homer that extended his streak. “I’m sure he told me he owed me dinner,” Roberts said. “I’m still waiting.”
Gagné plans to pay the bill next spring, at the Dodgers’ camp. “We’ll have to find a restaurant that lives up to expectations,” he concluded.