congratulations to the gagne on his streak, the only silver lining in this all, is that he gets to start over and try and beat his own record, nobody else will

thank you for this amazing streak gagne, you are still Mr. Game Over

Man, I thought that streak was never going to end. When you look up "Lights-Out" in the baseball encyclopedia next year, you'll still see a picture of Eric Gagne and his hyper-hip goggles.

I, for one, am glad it's over because I think Mr. Gagne really needs to prove something in the October spotlight anyway before he's considered one of the greats...

how is it the Gagne's fault that the team can't make the playoffs? he comes in and basically says goodnight to the other team. If the dodgers could consistently hit, they would make the playoffs

Well, I guess they'd better get their act together- don't you?

I mean, if Gagne is to prove himself of any real worth.

Look at all the saves Hoffman has racked up over the years, but when it came time to step onto the October stage he stumbled badly...

I think when it's all said and done, Hoffman will be seen as one of the greatest closers in the history of the game. Gagne will go down at least as having had one of if not the most impressive peak-values as a closer; and if he holds up for five more years even at 85% of what he's done over the past few, will be among the very best.

Hoffman stumbled dramatically in October, yes, but has pitched in exactly 10 postseason games in his career, what one can reasonably call a small sample size. The postseason is a fooler, numbers confounded by small sample sizes. Remember before 2002, when Barry Bonds was marred by his terrible postseason performance and considered a choker? A line of .471/.700/1.294 in the WS dispelled many a nay-sayer. Such celebrated "clutch" performers as Jeter and Pettitte upon closer look (baseball-reference has great player postseason stats) actually perform much like their career regular season totals, with as much choking as clutching going on.

Suggestion that it's the October stage that separates the greats from the not-so-greats undervalues the contributions of many players while attributing god-like status to average players for peaking in the postseason, or worse yet, for selective memory (Pettitte's clutch, right? Anybody remember the 2001 WS games 2 and 6 in Arizona...9 innings pitched, 10 er? His 4.05 ERA and 13-8 record in the postseason look rather like his career regular season stats).

It's certain that the pantheon of great closers will include Hoffman, and likely that Gagne will muscle his way in there as well; postseason success would simply be the icing...

Point taken, but 'tis the ones who shine in October who are remembered more prominently. Go ahead and look at the all-time saves leaderboard...see which names pop out at you the most.

Eckersley, Fingers, Gossage, etc- the guys who did it not only in the regular season, but in the post season as well, are the true legends in the relief category, IMO...

I also think Gagne has to keep it going for another few years before he'll be one of the all-time greats in my mind. Look how quickly some of these guys burn out after a few amazing seasons. Mitch Williams, Billy Koch, anyone?

Gagne has a long way to go, not just another few years. There have been lots of closers that have been great for 4 years, or even 5. But how about 8-10? That would differentiate himself from the other closers out there.

And as great as Eck was, I wouldn't say ALL his post season pitching was worthy of kudos (re: Gibson).

It's not just closers; any ballplayer needs to excel for more than just a few years to be remembered as "great". Gagne's in the middle of his third great season; there's a difference between a guy remembered as a great player and one remembered as having a few great seasons.

you want to see how dominating the Gagne was over every other closer, go to the useless info dept on epsn's baseball page, i think its jason starks section

he flat out is the best closer in baseball, looking at all those numbers compared to other closers

Yeah, for TWO and a half years. Come back and make a case in about 5 or 6 more seasons of this kind of thing, and I'll listen.

A silly argument -- Gagne has been absolutely great for two and a half years. In peak terms, as close to perfection as you'll see, and great fun to watch as well. He has not yet failed the test of time -- maybe he will, blow out his shoulder or just fade, in which case he admittedly does not yet have Hall of Fame credentials. But to be glad that the amazing streak is over because it obscures the fact he hasn't pitched in October, and thus hasn't proven himself by your standards, is to wish the facts away in order to perserve the theory.

Re: Eric Gagne Blows a Save

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