Eric Gagne announces retirement.

[Invader3K]

I somewhat was pulling for the guy to make a comeback, as I always kind of liked him. At the same time, it's kind of a kick in the pants that the Brewers were the last team to give him a big money deal.

 

Says he "feels great physically, but has no desire to pitch."

[pretendastronaut]

That big money contract lead me to getting a free ticket to see Braun's grand slam against the Pirates, so I'll call it even. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[cadillacjosh]

Its a shame he couldn't hack it after that injury. He was so amazing in "the streak". I was hoping he would do well in Milwaukee, but it just never panned out. He was an awfully classy guy, buying seats for the fans. I remember he reading he gave most of his contract back to Milwaukee through donations and such, what a nice move.

[AJAY]

I thought he had a nice second half in 2008 with the Brewers. He seemed to do much better as a setup man rather than as a closer. He did do a lot of positive things off the field and had nice things to say about the city, the fans, and the organization. The irony is that when he was previously a Dodger, he actually ripped Milwaukee and the Brewers. He compared us to a Triple A franchise, and he complained about the hotels being either haunted or lousy. I remember Jim Rome was ripping on him because the Brewers actually had a better record than the Dodgers at the time.

 

I guess a 10 million dollar contract can change your mind about a place http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Overall, I think his legacy will be tainted due to his name surfacing in the Mitchell Report.

[RockCoCougars]

Well, he was definitely a waste of $10 million dollars while here. That said, at least he was forthright about the fact that he didn't play up to his contract- most aren't. He also scored some points with the gestures he made with the tickets, etc. Whether it was completely altruistic, or just P.R., the gesture did show some class on his part.

[Mr QL]

Well didn't like him as a player when he was with us obviously but he seemed like a good guy.

[dlk9s]

I thought he had a nice second half in 2008 with the Brewers.

Pretty solid post-All Star break.

 

In 23 IP, he had a 3.52 ERA, .688 OPS against, 17 K, 6 BB.

[JimH5]

Geez, we Milwaukeeans are a polite bunch.

 

Well not me--not this time.

 

He cheated the game and that lead to him taking $10 million for about $2.5 million worth of performance.

 

He couldn't close games. It was a mistake to sign him.

 

Good job on the ticket giveaway, but everything about his career is suspect.

[pretendastronaut]

If I recall correctly, the Brewers were aware before signing him that he was likely on the Mitchell Report, even though it hadn't come out at the time.

 

Also, as for him personally, I can't find the story now, but I also remember that Suppan and Gagne teamed up to donate quite a lot of money to rebuilding little league parks in the Milwaukee area that were damaged by floods in the summer of 2008. Say what you want about his career, but as a person he seemed like a genuine guy and I'm not going to begrudge the man on his retirement news for making frankly, the same decision most of the league did in those years.