Major league baseball pitcher Eric Gagne put an end to years of rumours, admitting that he used human growth hormone during his peak years with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The native of Mascouche, northeast of Montreal, came clean with a Los Angeles Times reporter as he prepared to make a comeback with his old team.
The reporter, T.J. Simers, popped the question to the 34-year-old closer who at first denied doping. Simers then asked Gagne, "you were using HGH, weren't you?"
"I did," Gagne replied in the Times article. "I hate to talk about it. It just doesn't do anyone any good. But I thought it would help me get better when I hurt my knee. I just don't want that to sound as an excuse.
Gagne continued: "I'm so ashamed. It wasn't smart. If I knew what I know now. . . . I didn't need it. I regret it so much, just now maybe getting over the guilt. It was stupid."
Fall from grace
Gagne is one of the most accomplished Canadians in Major League history, winning the National League Cy Young award in 2003 after he recorded 55 saves and a 1.20 ERA with the Dodgers.
But injuries soon hampered his career, and he found himself bouncing around the league.
Gagne's name was first linked to drug use in 2007 when he was named in the Mitchell report, a study on doping commissioned by Major League Baseball. The report accused Gagne of receiving human growth hormone in 2004.Gagne was pitching in Milwaukee when the report came out, and he apologized to his teammates for "a distraction that shouldn't be taking place'' but didn't directly address the allegation.
He returned to the game in near-obscurity last season, playing for the Quebec City Capitales of the independent Can-Am League.
