Tracy Gives Gagne’s Right Arm for a Title

Whispered through the tunnels of Chavez Ravine since August, the word broke through the surface this week like a hot geyser of revelation.

That it came from a medical man, instead of a baseball man, gave it real steam.

When asked about the cause of Eric Gagne’s stiff shoulder on Wednesday, Dodger trainer Stan Johnston said, “Overuse, or it might have been warming up too quick.”

Overuse. There it was. As plain as the fog on Gagne’s goggles. Overuse.

Although Johnston emphasized that he wasn’t criticizing Manager Jim Tracy, and although he clearly listed it as only the first of multiple potential causes, he said it nonetheless.

Talk about letting the nightmare out of the bag.

Since Gagne’s caddie, Guillermo Mota, was shipped away in late July, this is what some dreaded.

When Gagne acknowledged receiving a cortisone shot Wednesday for what he called a “dead arm,” this is what many figured.

Then, watching Gagne give up the go-ahead run on a fastball to fastball-only-hitting Jeromy Burnitz in the 10th inning of Thursday’s 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies, this is surely what most understand.

Can we finally cut the charade?

Yes, the Dodgers’ most valuable possession has been overworked since The Trade.

Yes, it has been because Tracy thought he didn’t have a choice.

No, it cannot continue if Gagne is to fulfill his Hall of Fame potential as a Dodger.

“With Mota not here, did I do things slightly different? Yeah. You had to,” Tracy acknowledged Thursday. “What are your choices? Lose the division? You think anybody in a blue shirt wanted to see that?”

The numbers are as numb as Gagne’s shoulder after that shot.

Since the July 30 trade that sent Mota, Paul Lo Duca and Juan Encarnacion to the Florida Marlins for Brad Penny and Hee-Seop Choi, Gagne has been in a class by himself.

We’re not talking saves or strikeouts, but the equally important innings per appearance.

Seven times in the last two months, Gagne has pitched two or more innings.

That equals the number of two-inning appearances during that span by seven other probable playoff closers combined.

Four times for Keith Foulke. Once for Mariano Rivera. Once for John Smoltz. Once for Brad Lidge. None for Jason Isringhausen, Joe Nathan or Troy Percival.

This season, Gagne has pitched two or more innings 10 times.

That’s more than during his previous two seasons combined, when he totaled nine such appearances.

Yeah, well, maybe your arm would feel a little funky too.

“I haven’t been overused,” Gagne said. “I’ve never pitched when I can’t pitch. I talk to them all the time. We’re on the same page. If I’m not ready, I don’t pitch.”

This, coming from a guy who wishes he was a hockey player.

It’s difficult to trust medical reports from a player so willing to work and so eager to please.

The Dodgers need to listen to history, not Gagne, and realize that he is a one-inning jewel, not a two-inning jeep.

He has blown only two of 47 save opportunities this season, leading the major leagues with a 95.7 save percentage. But lately, there have been hints of mortality.

In his last four appearances, he has actually looked ordinary.

Six innings, six hits, three runs, five walks, five strikeouts, 103 pitches.

Sounds like one of his lines when he was an struggling starter, no?

Yet the Dodgers won all four games, with Gagne getting three saves.

There’s the rub that could leave the bullpen raw.

“You tell me a situation where I shouldn’t have used him, and maybe it would cost us the ballgame, and maybe we’d be chasing instead of leading,” Tracy said.

It’s all about choices, indeed.

Paul DePodesta chose to finish the pennant sprint with brittle Darren Dreifort and young Yhency Brazoban and aging Wilson Alvarez as his setup men.

When Dreifort predictably went down, the choice was Tracy’s.

Do you follow your boss’ script and patch together a rickety and untested bridge to the ninth inning, knowing it could cost the team victories now?

Or do you throw out that script and turn Gagne into his own setup man because you want to win now?

The matter was complicated because, at the time, lame-duck Tracy’s job was on the line.

Tracy chose winning now. He chose Gagne whenever.

The results topped the standings, filled the stands, extended the season.

But the broadest shoulder in the house is stiff, and unless they climb off earlier each night, the ride stops here.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. For previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.