June 22, 200520 yr Ouch! Surgery needed to fix sprained ligament Associated Press LOS ANGELES -- Dodgers closer Eric Gagne will have season-ending surgery to fix a sprained ligament in his right elbow. Gagne had a second MRI exam Tuesday and doctors concluded he needs Tommy John surgery, the team said. The All-Star reliever has a second-degree sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament and was recently placed on the 15-day disabled list. Gagne, who owns the major league record of 84 consecutive saves, landed on the disabled list for the first time in his seven-year major league career on April 1 when he hurt his elbow, possibly while compensating for a knee injury sustained during spring training. It was the same elbow that underwent ligament replacement surgery in 1997. He returned to action May 14 but aggravated the injury while pitching against Minnesota on June 12. Gagne was 1-0 with eight saves and a 2.70 ERA in 13 1/3 innings since his return from the disabled list. Dating to last Aug. 28, he has converted 18 consecutive save opportunities. Gagne won the NL Cy Young Award in 2003 with a club-record 55 saves and a 1.20 ERA. He agreed to a $19 million, two-year contract in the offseason after recording 152 saves and averaging 122 strikeouts during his first three seasons as a closer.
June 22, 200520 yr QUOTE(ScottPodRulez22 @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 02:04 AM) That would keep him out 2 year woudnt it Probaly to the All-Star break next year. Unless its less for relievers.
June 22, 200520 yr Haha, did anyone see Brantley flip-out on the Dodgers for f***ing up Gagne's injury? Rofl. This guy does not get heated up until you start messing around with closers...and then it's like he gets offended and he has his own personal agenda with you. First Ozzie doesn't put Hermanson in, and now the Dodgers I guess ruined Gagne's arm...I'm afraid he's gonna choke a b****.
June 22, 200520 yr That's what happens when you have to go off the juice, lose your velocity, overthrow and f*** your arm up. Watch puffy boy's face, neck and forearms shrink in the next year.
June 22, 200520 yr Author QUOTE(EvilJester99 @ Jun 21, 2005 -> 09:10 PM) Yeah didn't see that one... merge this please! cheapest way to get 2 posts... ever.
June 22, 200520 yr I highly doubt that Gagne was a steroid case, but even if he was...this injury is completely not due to Steroids. Its due to the exact same th ing the Dodgers did to Herschiser and Valenzuela; they rode their arms to a playoff birth. Last year, the Dodgers traded away Gagne's setup man to Florida. After that, he suddenly wasn't just pitching the 9th inning. He was also pitching the 8th inning a lot of times, because they had no other bullpen option. He even had like 1 outing that was well over 2 innings; came in during the 7th. It was after the Dodgers made that trade that Gagne's blown save streak ended. There's a reason why; they wore him out. They gave him an enormous amount of work last year, and it wore him out. Then, this year...he came in to spring training and hurt his knee. Then he was going out there on a weak set of legs and trying to throw everything with the arm he wore out last year. This is a recipe for disaster for any pitcher. You cannot throw a pitcher out there every day and then expect his arm to take the pounding if his legs give out. Gagne then came back too early...told his team he could pitch...they listened, and then things finally snapped.
June 22, 200520 yr Bill Plaschke in the LAT had an excellent piece on what the Dodgers did to Gagne the other day.
June 22, 200520 yr I highly doubt that Gagne was a steroid case, but even if he was...this injury is completely not due to Steroids. Its due to the exact same th ing the Dodgers did to Herschiser and Valenzuela; they rode their arms to a playoff birth. Last year, the Dodgers traded away Gagne's setup man to Florida. After that, he suddenly wasn't just pitching the 9th inning. He was also pitching the 8th inning a lot of times, because they had no other bullpen option. He even had like 1 outing that was well over 2 innings; came in during the 7th. It was after the Dodgers made that trade that Gagne's blown save streak ended. There's a reason why; they wore him out. They gave him an enormous amount of work last year, and it wore him out. Then, this year...he came in to spring training and hurt his knee. Then he was going out there on a weak set of legs and trying to throw everything with the arm he wore out last year. This is a recipe for disaster for any pitcher. You cannot throw a pitcher out there every day and then expect his arm to take the pounding if his legs give out. Gagne then came back too early...told his team he could pitch...they listened, and then things finally snapped. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Yep, Gagne was pitching on a hobbled knee during Spring Training. That will totally screw up a guy's mechanics. The Dodgers messed up when they did that.
June 22, 200520 yr Gagne was a good reliever. Now let's wait and see how the surgery affects his pitching...
June 22, 200520 yr Gagne was a good reliever. Now let's wait and see how the surgery affects his pitching... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> He will miss all of next season as well, won't he? I think that's what I heard.
June 22, 200520 yr QUOTE(Jabroni @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 02:56 AM) He will miss all of next season as well, won't he? I think that's what I heard. They are hoping he'll be back by next year's allstar break. "Hoping" being being the key word in that sentence.
June 22, 200520 yr QUOTE(wsox08 @ Jun 22, 2005 -> 12:39 AM) Gagne was a good reliever. Now let's wait and see how the surgery affects his pitching... He had this same surgery almost 10 years ago & managed to come back from it. Only problem is...he's older now...who knows if he'll heal as well.
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