By Fitzgerald Cecilio

Former Dodgers pitcher Eric Gagne says he was not alone when it came to using human growth hormone, alleging that most of his former Dodgers teammates were using performance-enhancing drugs during his time with the team.

Gagne claims in his new biography that 80 percent of his Dodgers teammates were using PEDs.

"I was intimately aware of the clubhouse in which I lived. I would say that 80 percent of the Dodgers players were consuming them," Gagne said in the French-language memoir entitled, "Game Over: The Story of Eric Gagne," according to ESPN Los Angeles.

The former record-setting closer Gagne did not reveal the names of the players involved in the use of performance-enhancing drugs from his Dodgers days.

"It was sufficient to ruin my health, tarnish my reputation and throw a shadow over the extraordinary performances of my career," writes Gagne, who pitched for the Dodgers from 1999-2006.

Gagne, the 2003 NL Cy Young Award winner and three-time All-Star, had acknowledged in the past that his record-setting performance as relief pitcher for the Dodgers was in part invigorated by human growth hormone.

In 2003, Gagne set a major league record while converting 84 consecutive save chances.

His sterling performance during that period inspired the phrase "Game Over" which was used by Dodgers faithful on their T-shirts as logo. It was flashed across the scoreboard when Gagne entered a game at Dodger Stadium, usually in the eighth or ninth inning, with the Dodgers in the lead.

In the book, Gagne says he used HGH late in his career, over five cycles in a three-year period.

Gagne, who twice received the NL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year, first admitted publicly to using HGH in 2010.

Gagne was identified as an HGH user in the Mitchell Report in 2007.

Gagne began his career as a starting pitcher after signing with the Dodgers as free agent in 1995. Gagne struggled as a starter and was converted to a reliever, a role in which he thrived from 2002 to 2004.

After battling several injuries and undergoing elbow surgery in 2005, Gagne signed as a free agent with the Texas Rangers before the 2006 season. He was also part of the Red Sox team that captured the World Series in 2007.

Gagne also played for Milwaukee Brewers. He attempted a comeback with the Dodgers, signing a minor league deal with the Dodgers in 2010, but was released during spring training.

Gagne, 36, has not pitched in the major leagues since 2008.

 

 

Ex-Dodger Closer Eric Gagne Claims Teammates Used PEDs