From either the French-Canadian family, Gagne grew up swimming ice hockey in his small hometown of Mascouche, located not far from either Montreal. The fan of the Montreal Expos, he started swimming baseball too when hockey & as the adolescent was the brilliant pitcher around high school, so a star using Canada's Junior Globe Championship teams.

Gagné was the 30th-around draft selection of the Chicago White Sox in 1994, but a resulting month he signed using a Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free professional. Gagné, world health organization may not speak English, attend learn at Seminole Junior College inside Seminole, Oklahoma. Remarkably, he taught himself English spell the student & pitched for the college's "Trojans" ball team. Of these way he learned English was by watching a sitcom ''Who's the Boss?'' He then went on to pitch in the minor leagues but missed the entire 1997 season due to Tommy John surgery. He joined the Los Angeles Dodgers team for a section of the 1999 season; around his number one season in the major leagues, he appeared in lone 5 games as a starting pitcher. Above his number one 3 seasons he met by using single mediocre profits, winning Xi games when losing Fourteen. At one point, a Montreal Expos offered a trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers which would have sent todays Fox, Milton Bradley for Eric Gagne, but a Dodgers backed retired at a endure moment. At first of the 2002 year, he was converted from either the starting pitcher to the relief pitcher, and shortly became a National League's leading reliever, earning 52 saves for the season.

Around 2003, as a closer, Gagné was called upon 55 days to save a baseball & converted each of these of a two en route to becoming two a simply pitcher to record Fifty saves within other than one year & too the fastest pitcher to ever email the 100-save tableland. His 55 saves around 2003 as well equaled a National League record set a last year by John Smoltz. Between August 26, 2002 and July 5, 2004, he saved 84 sequentially games – an additional major league record. What is likewise and then exceptional all about him as a power pitcher is that 55 percent of a batters he retired in the period of the 2003 year come by strikeout.

Gagné finished a 2003 year by having an I.Xx earned run average & had 137 strikeouts and Twenty walks in 82 1/3 innings pitched. For his performance, he won a Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award and became a foremost reliever within Eleven years to win the Cy Young Award. By owning Ferguson Jenkins, he is one of only ii American pitchers to waround a virtually all prestigious pitching award in baseball.

In July 15, 2004 – just ten years when his saves streak all over – Gagne collected his 130th save as a Fox within a Five-Two convince the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona, surpassing Jeff Shaw for the most career saves around team history.

In Tuesday, June 21, 2005, it was announced that Gagne will undergo year-ending Tommy John surgery to repair a sprained ligament his correct elbow. He actually ended higher getting the less good surgery, then he is required to link to eventually for spring training in 2006. He finished the season One-0 by owning a Two.Seventy ERA withinside Xiv games, using Octet saves in Octad chance.