GLENDALE, Ariz. – When Eric Gagne was at his peak as one of the most dominant closers in baseball history, the Dodgers sold T-shirts featuring his goateed face and the legend, “Game Over.”
Last summer, Gagne started thinking – maybe it isn’t.
Gagne, 41, is in camp with the Dodgers as a guest instructor this spring. But he has bigger plans. The Quebec native is on Team Canada’s roster and plans to pitch in the World Baseball Classic next month. Beyond that, he wants a chance to make a comeback to the major leagues.
“I’m hoping. I want to pitch,” Gagne said. “Is it realistic? I don’t know.”
He has not thrown a pitch in the majors since the 2008 season with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was released the following spring and tried a comeback with the Dodgers in spring 2010. That fizzled out and he announced his retirement in April, ending a career that peaked with 55 saves and a Cy Young Award in 2003 but also featured multiple elbow surgeries, assorted injuries – including back surgery in 2006 – and inclusion in the 2007 Mitchell Report that investigated the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport.
Eight years of rest can work wonders, Gagne said. His arm “feels great.” It was his back that gave out on him in 2010 and since then he said he has learned how to work out without stressing those old injuries.
“I’m telling you – he doesn’t look 40 (years old) at all,” said Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen, who supplanted Gagne as the franchise’s all-time saves leader last season and watched his predecessor throw a bullpen session during Sunday’s workout at Camelback Ranch.
“That was pretty impressive,” Jansen said of the brief throwing session. “He said he’s been throwing a lot lately but still. To come out here and be able to spot his fastball like that, mix in the curveball and change – that’s pretty impressive.”
Wynston Sawyer wasn’t quite 12 years old when Gagne won his Cy Young Award. But he was thrilled when he was asked to catch for Gagne on Sunday.
“It was an honor,” said Sawyer, a minor-league catcher in his first year in the Dodgers organization. “I grew up in San Diego so I remember him from the Dodgers- Padres rivalry.
“He still had a lot of life on his ball. It came out of his hand really well. Fastball, slider and that split-change – all of his pitches had good movement.”
Gagne didn’t completely walk away from baseball in 2010. He was the pitching coach for the French team in the 2013 WBC and head coach of the French national team at the 2014 European Championships. He even took the mound again in 2015, pitching five innings in the independent Can-Am League where he owns a team as part of a fan appreciation promotion. When he did that again last summer, “I kind of got the bug again,” he said
When some Quebec-based players asked Gagne to help them train to make the Canadian WBC team, “that really triggered something” and Gagne had a target. He started training more seriously and said he hit 96 mph on a radar gun during a workout last August.
“But I’m not going to be there,” he said. “That would be topping out with adrenaline. That was the first time. So I’m probably going to be sitting 90 to 92. My changeup is better. My curveball is better. More consistency. I can spot it in and out better.
“I’ve gotten smarter. I’ve learned how to pitch at 90. Pitching at 95-96 is a lot different. You can get away with more stuff. I’ve learned how to pitch like the American League guys –backwards. That was the hardest thing at the end of my career. You don’t have to pitch like a power pitcher. I’ve learned that working with the kids. It’s a different mentality. It’s still – attack, attack, attack. But you can attack with a changeup. You can attack with a curveball.”
Gagne has an agent, Scott Leventhal, and he said he already has begun the process of feeling out teams that might be interested in seeing him work out. The Dodgers will have that opportunity every few days as Gagne said he plans to continue throwing in camp when he’s not offering advice to young relievers such as Pedro Baez.
“I love being in the bullpen with the young guys,” Gagne said. “That’s what I miss most.”
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, GM Farhan Zaidi and Manager Dave Roberts were all in the bullpen area while Gagne was throwing Sunday.
“We’ll see. I really don’t want to have expectations,” Gagne said. “I know I’m ready. I feel great. I’m throwing every day. And if it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’m having fun with it.”
NOTES
Position players reported to camp Monday. Tuesday is the first full-squad workout. … Left-hander Clayton Kershaw was among a group of pitchers who threw batting practice to hitters during Monday’s workout. Roberts said left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu felt good after throwing to hitters Sunday. “Ryu’s still got a smile on his face after the way he threw,” Roberts said. “That’s exciting.” Ryu made just one start the past two seasons while recovering from shoulder and elbow surgeries.
Contact the writer: bplunkett@scng.com
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