Jason Schmidt (Cy Young)
- Thread starter Ethereal
- Start date
Prior got jobbed.Fuck a closer who never goes through the lineup where hitters make adjustments throughout the game.They see him 1 inning.Most the time a left handed pinch hitter comes in...oooh scary.Fuckin reliever wins it,what a joke.It shoulde have went...
Schmidt
Prior
Ortiz
whoever the fuck...
Prior would of had it sewed if he did'nt miss those 5 or 6 starts.
Props to gagne,but hitters have no chance to see him a few times around.Big advantage.
Schmidt
Prior
Ortiz
whoever the fuck...
Prior would of had it sewed if he did'nt miss those 5 or 6 starts.
Props to gagne,but hitters have no chance to see him a few times around.Big advantage.
BUT HE JUST LEARNED HIS CHANGE-UP AFTER BEING CONVERTED TO CLOSER.
AS A STARTER ALL HE HAD WAS A FASTBALL/CURVE ARSENOL. PLUS HE IS BARELY 27 RIGHT NOW, WHICH MEANS HE WAS 23-24 WHEN HE WAS A STARTER.
ANYWAY HERE ARE HIS CAREER STATS
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?statsId=6342&context=pitching
2000---1ST YEAR ERA--5.15
2001---2ND YEAR ERA--4.75
WHILE THE K'S WENT UP FROM 80 TO 130 IN THOSE 2 SEASONS, AND BB'S WENT DOWN FROM 60 TO 46 ALL THE WHILE HIS INNINGS WENT UP 100 TO 150.
AS YOU CAN SEE HE GOT HIS CONFIDENCE BACK AFTER MOVING TO THE BULLPEN. ALSO YOU SHULD ALSO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT BASEBALL WAS 2ND FIDDLE FOR HIM, HE WAS A HOCKEY PLAYER UNTIL THE DODGERS CONVINCED HIM TO TRY BASEBALL.
i THINK HE IS SORT OF LIKE DEREK LOWE (ONLY ALOTE BETTER). IF THEY WERE MOVE HIM BACK TO THE ROTATION I HONESTLY THINK HE CAN BECOME A FLONTLINE STARTER (ACE).
11/13/2003 6:05 PM ET
Game over: Gagne wins Cy Young
Closer becomes seventh Dodger to win award
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
Eric Gagne speaks with the media at Dodger Stadium after winning the Cy Young Award.
LOS ANGELES -- Dodger closer Eric Gagne was named winner of the 2003 National League Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America Thursday, snapping Randy Johnson's four-year stranglehold on the award.
Gagne became the first Dodger to win the Cy Young award since Orel Hershiser in 1988, the first reliever since Oakland's Dennis Eckersley in 1992, the first National League reliever since San Diego's Mark Davis is 1989 and the first Dodger reliever since Mike Marshall in 1974.
Gagne is only the ninth relief pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in either league and the seventh Dodger winner, joining a list that includes some franchise immortals -- Don Newcombe (1956), Don Drysdale (1962), Sandy Koufax (1963-65-66), Marshall, Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Hershiser.
"Those names are amazing legends," said Gagne. "I never dreamed of stuff like that. This is such a great organization with so much history. It's a great feeling. The fans and media have been so good to me here, I owe everything to the media and fans. And my teammates."
The right-hander was named first on 28 ballots, second on two and was entirely left off two of the 32 ballots cast by two newspaper writers from each league city. Gagne totaled 146 points to 73 for runner-up Jason Schmidt of San Francisco and 60 for Mark Prior of the Cubs. Russ Ortiz of Atlanta was the only other pitcher to receive votes and had 9 points. Schmidt and Prior received two first-place votes each.
Gagne captured the award with perhaps the greatest season ever for a closer.
His 55 saves in 55 opportunities set Major League records for most saves in a perfect season, most consecutive saves in a season, most consecutive saves from the start of a season and, with 63, most consecutive saves over two seasons.
The 55 saves also tied John Smoltz for the National League single-season record and fell two short of Bobby Thigpen's all-time single-season saves mark. It set the Dodger franchise single-season record and, in the process, he became the Dodgers' first Rolaids Relief Man winner with 165 points, a Rolaids single-season record.
With 137 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings, he set a Major League record for strikeouts per nine innings (15.0). His career save conversion mark (107-of-111, .964) is the best all-time for pitchers with a minimum of 100 saves. Opponents hit .133 against him and he allowed only 6.5 runners per nine innings, both bests in the Majors this year. Gagne saved 65 percent of Dodger wins, second all-time to Bryan Harvey of the 1993 Florida Marlins.
He is the only reliever in history with two 50-save seasons and the first Dodger reliever with two 100-strikeout seasons, His 1.20 ERA is second-lowest among National League relievers, but in his 55 save opportunities his ERA was 0.32 with 98 strikeouts, 21 hits and 10 walks in 57 innings.
In addition to the Rolaids Relief Man award, Gagne was named The Sporting News National League Pitcher and Reliever of the year, then received the Players Choice Award for the National League's outstanding pitcher.
The only real blemish on his season was serving up the All Star game-winning home run to Hank Blalock. Gagne took the club's failure to reach the playoffs as a bigger disappointment.
"If I had 40 saves and we made the playoffs, it would have been a much better year," he said. "On this team, nobody cares about stats. We just want to win."
Gagne, 27, is a native of Montreal and the second Canadian to win the award (Ferguson Jenkins, 1971). He said he hopes to open a baseball academy to help develop Canadian ballplayers.
"This will be so good for baseball in Montreal and Quebec and Canada," Gagne said of his award. "Kids look up to me and say that one day they want to be like Eric Gagne and make it. I want to have some friends here."
Gagne was signed by the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent in 1995. He missed his second season of professional ball when he required Tommy John elbow reconstruction, and was a struggling starting pitcher when he was given his first chance to save a game in April, 2002.
Dodgers Cy Young winners (top, l-r): Don Newcombe, Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax (bottom, l-r) Mike Marshall, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser
He has been the undisputed closer of the staff ever since and explained his successful transition in roles.
"I think it's my mentality," he said. "As a starter, you have to control your emotions more. As a reliever, you can allow yourself to be more emotional on the mound in a positive way."
The only National League reliever to win the Most Valuable Player Award was Jim Konstanty, who went 16-7 with 22 saves in 74 relief appearances for the 1950 Phillies. Three American League closers (Eckersley, 1992; Willie Hernandez, 1984 and Rollie Fingers, 1981) not only won their league's MVP Award, they also won the Cy Young Award the same year.
"There are a lot of arguments about starters versus relievers for this award, but Eric is Cy Young hands-down," said manager Jim Tracy. "He's very deserving of this award."
Gagne will be eligible for salary arbitration this winter for the first time. The Dodgers unilaterally renewed his contract for $550,000 in 2003.
"That's the business part of the game and I accept that," he said. "They had the leverage and they could do anything they want. Now it's a different story. I'm not bitter. No hard feelings. I went out, did my job, now I have more leverage this year."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This article was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Game over: Gagne wins Cy Young
Closer becomes seventh Dodger to win award
By Ken Gurnick / MLB.com
Eric Gagne speaks with the media at Dodger Stadium after winning the Cy Young Award.
LOS ANGELES -- Dodger closer Eric Gagne was named winner of the 2003 National League Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers Association of America Thursday, snapping Randy Johnson's four-year stranglehold on the award.
Gagne became the first Dodger to win the Cy Young award since Orel Hershiser in 1988, the first reliever since Oakland's Dennis Eckersley in 1992, the first National League reliever since San Diego's Mark Davis is 1989 and the first Dodger reliever since Mike Marshall in 1974.
Gagne is only the ninth relief pitcher to win a Cy Young Award in either league and the seventh Dodger winner, joining a list that includes some franchise immortals -- Don Newcombe (1956), Don Drysdale (1962), Sandy Koufax (1963-65-66), Marshall, Fernando Valenzuela (1981) and Hershiser.
"Those names are amazing legends," said Gagne. "I never dreamed of stuff like that. This is such a great organization with so much history. It's a great feeling. The fans and media have been so good to me here, I owe everything to the media and fans. And my teammates."
The right-hander was named first on 28 ballots, second on two and was entirely left off two of the 32 ballots cast by two newspaper writers from each league city. Gagne totaled 146 points to 73 for runner-up Jason Schmidt of San Francisco and 60 for Mark Prior of the Cubs. Russ Ortiz of Atlanta was the only other pitcher to receive votes and had 9 points. Schmidt and Prior received two first-place votes each.
Gagne captured the award with perhaps the greatest season ever for a closer.
His 55 saves in 55 opportunities set Major League records for most saves in a perfect season, most consecutive saves in a season, most consecutive saves from the start of a season and, with 63, most consecutive saves over two seasons.
The 55 saves also tied John Smoltz for the National League single-season record and fell two short of Bobby Thigpen's all-time single-season saves mark. It set the Dodger franchise single-season record and, in the process, he became the Dodgers' first Rolaids Relief Man winner with 165 points, a Rolaids single-season record.
With 137 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings, he set a Major League record for strikeouts per nine innings (15.0). His career save conversion mark (107-of-111, .964) is the best all-time for pitchers with a minimum of 100 saves. Opponents hit .133 against him and he allowed only 6.5 runners per nine innings, both bests in the Majors this year. Gagne saved 65 percent of Dodger wins, second all-time to Bryan Harvey of the 1993 Florida Marlins.
He is the only reliever in history with two 50-save seasons and the first Dodger reliever with two 100-strikeout seasons, His 1.20 ERA is second-lowest among National League relievers, but in his 55 save opportunities his ERA was 0.32 with 98 strikeouts, 21 hits and 10 walks in 57 innings.
In addition to the Rolaids Relief Man award, Gagne was named The Sporting News National League Pitcher and Reliever of the year, then received the Players Choice Award for the National League's outstanding pitcher.
The only real blemish on his season was serving up the All Star game-winning home run to Hank Blalock. Gagne took the club's failure to reach the playoffs as a bigger disappointment.
"If I had 40 saves and we made the playoffs, it would have been a much better year," he said. "On this team, nobody cares about stats. We just want to win."
Gagne, 27, is a native of Montreal and the second Canadian to win the award (Ferguson Jenkins, 1971). He said he hopes to open a baseball academy to help develop Canadian ballplayers.
"This will be so good for baseball in Montreal and Quebec and Canada," Gagne said of his award. "Kids look up to me and say that one day they want to be like Eric Gagne and make it. I want to have some friends here."
Gagne was signed by the Dodgers as an undrafted free agent in 1995. He missed his second season of professional ball when he required Tommy John elbow reconstruction, and was a struggling starting pitcher when he was given his first chance to save a game in April, 2002.
Dodgers Cy Young winners (top, l-r): Don Newcombe, Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax (bottom, l-r) Mike Marshall, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser
He has been the undisputed closer of the staff ever since and explained his successful transition in roles.
"I think it's my mentality," he said. "As a starter, you have to control your emotions more. As a reliever, you can allow yourself to be more emotional on the mound in a positive way."
The only National League reliever to win the Most Valuable Player Award was Jim Konstanty, who went 16-7 with 22 saves in 74 relief appearances for the 1950 Phillies. Three American League closers (Eckersley, 1992; Willie Hernandez, 1984 and Rollie Fingers, 1981) not only won their league's MVP Award, they also won the Cy Young Award the same year.
"There are a lot of arguments about starters versus relievers for this award, but Eric is Cy Young hands-down," said manager Jim Tracy. "He's very deserving of this award."
Gagne will be eligible for salary arbitration this winter for the first time. The Dodgers unilaterally renewed his contract for $550,000 in 2003.
"That's the business part of the game and I accept that," he said. "They had the leverage and they could do anything they want. Now it's a different story. I'm not bitter. No hard feelings. I went out, did my job, now I have more leverage this year."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ken Gurnick is a reporter for MLB.com. This article was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.
I can't believe that they give the Cy Young Award to a pitcher who comes in and only throws ONE inning. That's bullshit. The Cy Young Award should be for someone who throws 6-9 innings a game. Sure Gagne is a tough pitcher to hit, but that's because he is only in there for one inning. That is why he is a closer. When he was a starter, when the hitters started coming up the second time around, they smashed on him. Anyone can be a closer and pitch that well. Dennis Eckersley was the top closer for the A's in the late 80's and early 90's. The first half of his career he was a starter and he was average. Cy Young should be for someone who actually works out there on the mound. Josh Beckett on the Marlins should have won it hands down. Fuck a closer, finish what you started you fuckin' pussies. Throw the ninth inning. Be a fuckin' man like in the old days. Earn your win.
Hahahahaah this foo knows nuthin about baseball!! Beckett wasnt even close to winnin this award!! Thats hilarious!! We have anotha Marlin/Beckett bandwagon man here!! Beckett wasnt even the best pitcher on his team in the regular season!! 9-8 record is weak!! U trippin hard mane!! Gagne won it and the only starters that had a chance was Prior & Schmidt!! GOT EM!!