From 2002 to 2004, Eric Gagne was the best closer in baseball. In 2003, he had arguably the best single season in the history of baseball by a closer and he won the Cy Young award.Sunday night, the 33 year-old right-hander was released. The news created no ripple. It barely created a whimper. Northern Iowa's basketball team winning the Missouri Valley Conference title got more buzz in national sports news, with good reason. Gagne just isn't relevant anymore. So, what happened?
It shouldn't be too difficult to figure out, actually. He's totally broken down because of arm injuries the last four seasons and has also been tied to steroids. His three elite years were from 2002-2004. League-wide punishable drug testing began in '04, so it's possible he still got that one last jolt before going clean into his last good campaign. Since then, he's been unable to artificially recharge his batteries, and he still can't get his arm healthy.
What amazes me about this situation is how people pick and choose which guys deserve to have proverbial fists shaken at them when it comes to steroids. Sammy Sosa is publicly bemoaned, yet he's never been tied to steroids. It's easy to say, "well, c'mon, it's obvious." I won't argue with that, but why isn't someone like Gagne criticized just as publicly?
He's been connected, as I said, to the juice. He set a record for most consecutive converted saves. He saved 152 games in just three seasons. I mean, we're talking about a guy sitting there pumping out near triple-digits on his fastball, only to follow with a 68 mph changeup. This all sounds just as super-human as three 60-home run seasons to me. Yet there are no screaming heads on ESPN calling for him to be banned from the game.
Either way, Gagne is now without a team as he attempts, again, to rehab his ailing wing. I'm sure someone will take a chance on him, but teams surely have learned their lesson and won't be giving him $10 million like the Brewers did last season. He's never going to be even remotely the same as he was when his stuff was artificially enhanced.
