BoSox Injection
Fansided

Red Sox all-time washed up player All-Star team (part two)

By Drew Athans

Boston Red Sox outfielder Rickey Henderson scores on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning as New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada (L) catches the ball too late, 2 June 2002 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY. AFP PHOTO/Matt CAMPBELL (Photo by MATT CAMPBELL / AFP) (Photo by MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images)
Boston Red Sox outfielder Rickey Henderson scores on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first inning as New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada (L) catches the ball too late, 2 June 2002 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY. AFP PHOTO/Matt CAMPBELL (Photo by MATT CAMPBELL / AFP) (Photo by MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
8 of 10
Next
BOSTON – OCTOBER 20: Eric Gagne #83 of the Boston Red Sox delivers against the Cleveland Indians during Game Six of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park on October 20, 2007 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Red Sox won the game 12-2 and tie the series 3-3. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
BOSTON – OCTOBER 20: Eric Gagne #83 of the Boston Red Sox delivers against the Cleveland Indians during Game Six of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park on October 20, 2007 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Red Sox won the game 12-2 and tie the series 3-3. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images) /

Eric Gagne

I still remember how excited everyone was when then-Red Sox GM Theo Epstein traded for Eric Gagne at the deadline in July 2007. He was coming off of some injury-plagued seasons, but earlier in the decade had been one of the greatest closers the game had ever seen. The idea was to use Gagne as the ultimate set-up man for closer Jonathan Papelbon, but it didn’t work out that way.

Gagne spent from 1999 to 2006 with the Dodgers and had a stretch between 2002 and 2004 when he was one of the greatest closers in the history of the game. During those three seasons he saved 52, 55, and 45 games, respectively, while sporting ERAs of 1.97, 1.20, and 2.19 (again, respectively). He was an All-Star all three of those years and won the NL Cy Young award in 2003.

By the time he got to Boston, he was in decline while battling injuries and it got even worse once he put on a Red Sox uniform. He only made 20 appearances in the regular season, going 2-2 with no saves and an ERA of 6.75. At one point he gave up 14 runs in 14 innings for a “perfect” ERA of 9.00 to go along with three blown saves.

Gagne was active for the 2007 postseason and even though he got a World Series ring for being on the Red Sox that year, he was only used in October when the team was comfortably ahead. In the one high-leverage situation he pitched in, Game Two of the 2007 ALCS, he came in to a tie game, gave up the lead, and took the loss.

As a final kick in the teeth, after the season he signed with the Milwaukee Brewers where he was promptly implicated in using HGH and other banned substances. Combined with his shoulder problems and poor performance, he was released and out of baseball after the 2008 season.

Home/Red Sox History