Thanks for the mph on Gagne's pitches, Jon. While watching gamecast--I only got to check out the last inning--I wondered how hard he was throwing. I have literally been all but cut off from electronic news so I don't know how Gagne has looked this past week or so but since the injury, I don't think he's hit the upper 90's on the fastball. And Eric Gagne in the low-90's just isn't Eric Gagne. He's just another closer.

I hope I am very, very wrong about all of the above.

Usually this wouldn't bother me because I could trust the pitching staff to help guide Gagne's conditioning and mechanics back to snuff. But, the way the entire pitching staff has been the past two months, makes me wonder.

Also, I felt that the strikeout pitch to Magruder was a slow curve. Still a change-of-pace, but it looked to me like he broke off a curve ball on that pitch.

Then it would be followed by a trip to the ER to get my elbow and shoulder repaired.

Also, on Colin Cowherd this morning, I heard a great interview with Goose Gosage, its off topic a bit, but did anyone hear that? 2 things that stood out:

1. closers today have it easy. The set up men have a tougher job.

He had to come in, runners on base in the 7th or 8th everytime and then pitch the 9th too.

2. He belives relivers are now being used the way they should. But comparing him to a modern closer is a slap in his face.

Is he in the Hall? What about Sutter? Both were so dominant. I still can remember some AB's on the radio as a kid. Specifically Sutter vs Garvey

75% is necessary for induction. Sutter was third. Gossage was fifth.

Joe Morgan argues that 'closers' [or best relievers] should be used in the higest-leverage situations rather than the 9th inning with a lead. The same 'closers have it easy' argument that Gossage was making, essentially, and that other on this board have made from time to time.

Joe also has argued that batting average is an overrated stat and I thought, "Good for you, Joe!", but then I kept reading and he claimed it was overrated because RBI were more important, never once mentioning OBP or SLG.

If Joe Morgan will be spouting off about using closers earlier than the 9th in high-leverage situations, perhaps it will become 'convential wisdom' and we won't suffer Gagne sitting in the pen with bases loaded, no outs in the 9th inning of a tie game anymore.

Tivo. :-)

Guessing is what I do.

In high school, I was helping out the baseball coach at a playoff game. Our school had been eliminated, so we were responsible for running the game site. It was a playoff game between Palisades (with Steve Kerr) and Fremont (with Eric Davis).

Anyway, I was the PA announcer and the coach ran the scoreboard. This was at CSUN. During the game, the coach (who had played and coached for years) grumbled, "I don't know how those announcers can tell what pitch is being thrown from up here [the press box]. Maybe they pick up the spin, but I can't. I think they're just guessing."

When he had to step out for a batter to take care of something else, he gave me control of the scoreboard too. There was just one pitch thrown though. And I managed to record it incorrectly.

I don't know you, and I don't know Eric Gagne. I wouldn't dare speculate on whether you go around sniffing your own armpits when no one is looking. I extend the same courtesy to Eric Gagne. There are many other explanations for his reduced velocity, including the most obvious one that he missed virtually all of spring training due to injuries and has yet to reach top form. Another good explanation is that three years of high-stress pitching in close games has worn his arm down permanently. To speculate that Gagne uses steroids based on the reduced velocity is McCarthyistic. Show me a positive drug test, and I will say, hey, you've got some proof, but short of that, I don't think is in any way fair.

To be clear, Mr. Bright. I'm not suggesting that you stick your fingertips under your armpits when no one is looking and then take a deep whiff. That would be wrong. So was your post.

The more sensible explanation for why he hasn't been quite the same this year as last is, as dRatt said, that he had absolutely no spring training this year. His case is parallel in this way to Jason Werth, who is sub-Mendoza line right now and obviously not the hitter he was last year. Not yet, anyway.

Kinda the same thing with developing bat speed . . . if you're using a rotational swing, then developing very, very strong forearms enables you to generate very high THT.

I tried to inject a little humor into this discussion in my response to the guy who accused Gagne, but I'll restate my point more directly. I don't think it's right to accuse a player of being on steroids absent evidence, i.e. Giambi, Bonds, Canseco, who have all admitted they've used them, or the guy from Tampa Bay who tested positive. Even though this is just a blog and not the New York Times, one man's rank speculation quickly becomes another man's fact.

You don't know if Brown ever took steroids. There are many other perfectly plausible explanations for the symptoms you cite. A lot of people have muscle or tissue related problems who don't use steroids. So unless Brown confesses or gets caught in a test, he should be presumed innocent.

Does anyone think I'm wrong about this? This kind of speculation is a menace, in my opinion.

*Is Gagne's weight down much from previous years? I knew a scout who thought Gagne was on steroids because he put on a bunch of weight. According to him, it was steroids; according to Dodger Blues, it was poutine. Which leads to the next question...

*Don't steroids make you "cut"? Isn't Gagne more "svelte"? Eric Gagne and lean muscle mass aren't two phrases I put in the same sentence much.

*Gagne was throwing heat well before he became a closer, yet he was ineffective as a starter. Unless you can demonstrate that he added 2-4 mph to his fastball at the same time he became a closer, then attributing his success as a closer to "performance enhancement" legal or otherwise, has little merit. Troy Percival was an OK minor-league catcher until he was converted to a closer; you could say steroids were the reason, but the more plausible reason--finding the right role for his talents--is staring you in the face.

Last Year w/ Velocity:
Fastball 95-98 MPH
Changeup ~88 MPH
Curveball High 60's

Now:
Fastball 91-94 MPH
Changeup 82-83 MPH
Curveball same as last year

It appears that Gagne has also lost some movement on his fastball on changeup. If he's still throwing like this in July, I would expect him to ever get much better, which means that he probably used steroids.

Secondly, who do like better: Big Mac refusing to confess, or Sammy Sosa lying to your face?

Since the truth will never be known short of confession or autobiographic best-seller, Steroid Speculation is no less a spectator sport than spotting fake tits or second guessing Jim Tracy.

MOST OBVIOUS STERIOD DODGER: Darren Dreifort. If you don't see this, then you, my friend, are blind.

OTHER PRIME CANDIDATES:
Mr. Hundley, Mr. Green, Mr. Gagne (steroid use enhances recovery time), and about a dozen or so other Dodgers.

But, if you still believe in Santa, I still wish you a merry Christmas!