Does anyone out there know what "gagne" means in French? For those of you who don't, it means to win, which is exactly what the Red Sox did the moment they acquired closer (now setup man) Eric Gagne from the Texas Rangers in exchange for lefthander Kason Gabbard and minor league outfielders David Murphy and Engel Beltre.
Gagne, you may remember, was at his best in the Dodgers organization, when he went on a streak to set a record, one that will probably never be broken. (No, steroids won't help you break this one, Barry.) Gagne converted 84 consecutive save opportunities. 84 STRAIGHT SAVES. Any guesses for whose record he shattered? Come on, it's a name any Sox fan will know.
Oh, come now, you really don't know?
...Fine, I'll have to tell you.
Tom Gordon, former Red Sox reliever who had 54 straight saves from April 1998 to June 1999, was the previous record holder.
And now I hear the disappointed sighs of recognition and disbelief.
Ha-ha.
The Sox's bullpen has undeniably now become baseball's best, using the former great to fill the hole left by dominant righthander Brendan Donnelly, who announced today that he is to have Tommy John's surgery, which will sideline him for the remainder of this year and quite possibly all of next.
Quite a filler, wouldn't you say? Gagne has only blown one save all year, and that was to Boston, with the help of Dustin Pedroia, whose homer handed Gagne only his seventh blown save in his entire career. Gagne is also the fastest person ever to reach 100 saves.
But he won't be the closer in Boston, oh no. Jonathan Papelbon fills that role. Gagne will be the Sox's setup man, and close on days when Pap is resting.
But think about this...baseball's best bullpen just got better.
And Gagne waived his no-trade clause so he could gagne at last.
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