On April 29, 2005, Los Angeles Dodgers closer Éric Gagné was suspended two games and fined an undisclosed amount for violating terms that had previously been given to him by MLB.
The suspension came after Gagné was ejected for arguing balls and strikes from the dugout with home-plate umpire Bill Hohn on April 6, when the Dodgers defeated the San Francisco Giants on the road.
Gagné closer was on the then-disabled list, but under the MLB rules he was not allowed to be in uniform or on the bench, which led to the suspension.
Gagné dealt with several injuries early in the 2005 season and only appeared in 14 games for the club. He threw just 13.1 innings but still remained effective with a 2.70 ERA, 2.35 FIP, 14.85 strikeouts per nine and 2.03 walks per nine while saving eight games in eight tries.
His injury problems came back later in the season and on June 21, the team announced the right-hander would undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery to repair the sprained ligament in his elbow.
He also previously underwent the surgery in 1997, giving him slim odds of returning to the Major Leagues.
As the operation began, the surgeons discovered the trouble was instead a nerve entrapped by scar tissue and were able to release it with a less invasive procedure. However, Gagné was still unable to play for the remainder of the 2005 season.
He returned in June 2006 but pitched in only two games, throwing two scoreless innings, before he was forced to end his season for the second straight year to due the arm troubles. Those were the final two innings he threw for the Dodgers before spending the last two seasons of his career splitting time with the Boston Red Sox, Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers.
Gagné became Dodgers All-Time saves leader
One year prior to his injury troubles beginning, Gagné etched his name in Dodgers lore by recording career save No. 130 on July 15, 2004 — surpassing Jeff Shaw for the most in franchise history.
The right-hander tossed a perfect ninth inning, striking out Roberto Alomar, Steve Finley and Luis Gonzalez to put the finishing touches on a 4-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark.
Since then, he was overtaken by Kenley Jansen, who is now with the Atlanta Braves, for the franchise record.
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