The Los Angeles Dodgers honored Eric Gagné by having him throw out the ceremonial first pitch before their matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, which marked the 20th anniversary of his MLB-record 84th consecutive save.
With Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” blasting through the speakers, Gagné fired a strike to Evan Phillips. “It’s exciting, it’s a lot of emotions,” he said before the festivities.
“I have my family coming in. It’s crazy it’s been 20 years. But I’m excited, it’ll be fun. It’s a very emotional night. Just to be here, it’s an amazing honor just to be part of the Dodgers history and everything else. To be honored today, it’s very humbling.”
Gagné said he felt a flood of emotions in his return to Dodger Stadium. “Yes, every time. Every time I step on this field, it’s like a church to me,” Gagné explained.
“My offer is on that level of the mound, and walking here with all the history, the Tommy Lasorda’s, Don Drysdale’s, the Sandy Koufax’s of the world, to me, just to be part of that history, it’s not realistic. I still don’t feel it. I tell my kids, just to be part of that history, it’s really humbling.
Gagné spent eight seasons with the Dodgers, earning three All-Star selections and most notably winning the 2003 National League Cy Young Award for his contributions as a closer.
The right-hander last pitched for the team in 2006 and still gets emotional when he walks out to the mound. “It’s hard. It’s a lot of emotions, I haven’t been here in a while on the pitching mound with all the fans and everything else,” Gagné said.
“It’s surreal, it’s something that’s very special. We take it for granted when we’re playing. When we’re here, we just go through a routine every single day, but for me, the biggest thing in the world, being part of an organization that has one of the biggest brands you can ever think of, the Dodgers, and for me to be part of that is unreal.”
Dave Roberts reflects on Eric Gagné’s career
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was teammates with Eric Gagné for parts of three seasons and reflected on times when he looked unhittable. “Domination. I mean, it was like cartoon stuff. Guys had no chance,” Roberts began.
“The Game Over, the Welcome to the Jungle, it was a craze. There was a thing where Dodgers fans would leave early, but with Eric closing out games, no one left, and that was pretty cool.
“I remember being out in center field sometimes taking my glove off, feeling I didn’t even need to have my glove on. And I would kind of challenge myself by not having my glove on when the pitch was thrown. I mean, he was just dominant. He was very well prepared. Very smart guy, Eric is very smart.
“The command was unbelievable. The fastball was commanded, the breaking ball was filthy, and then the changeup was like a Bugs Bunny changeup. So it’s good, it’s good. I’m sure he’s still in great shape right now.
“He asked me to throw out the first pitch, but I think I’m going to decline, because I don’t know what he’s going to throw and I don’t want him to embarrass me. So hopefully somebody else will catch it.”
