STREAKING HAVOC GAGNE'S 70 SAVES IN ROW MAYBE GETTING LOST IN RECORD SHUFFLE.

Byline: Tony Jackson Staff Writer

Behind the Chavez Ravine phenomenon that is Eric Gagne, there is the streak.

The phenomenon is what happens when the bullpen gate in left field swings open, usually at the start of the ninth inning, and Gagne bursts through, on a dead run toward the mound. The Dodger Stadium speakers blare Guns N' Roses' ``Welcome to the Jungle,'' the strobe lights start flashing around the rim of the ballpark, the words ``Game Over'' appear on the giant video board, and the stands erupt.

The streak is what happens next. It is the more tangible aspect of Gagne's mystique, the thing you can gauge, the thing that won him last year's National League Cy Young Award, the reason he is getting $5 million this season even after losing his offseason arbitration case.

Gagne enters the week having converted 70 consecutive save opportunities, a major-league-record streak that began Aug. 28, 2002. He passed the previous mark of 54, set by Boston's Tom Gordon from 1998 to '99, late last season. Gagne has since obliterated it, which is why those ``Game Over'' T-shirts, featuring a caricature of his begoggled face, are so popular around town.

It isn't just a trite slogan.

``When I see him come into the game, I go upstairs and I go home,'' said Don Newcombe, the Dodgers pitching legend and now their community relations director. ``I know he's going to do the job. There were a lot of great relief pitchers before Eric Gagne and none of them came close to what he has done.''

The streak raises two questions.

The first is whether it can ever be matched. Dodgers manager Jim Tracy was quick to dismiss that notion, even if the streak were to end tonight.

``We may never, ever see it again,'' Tracy said. ``(Seventy) consecutive saves is something that's going to be tough for anybody to match, and we don't even know how much higher that number is going to go. I think it will stand for a long, long time.''

The second is where Gagne's run ranks among other famous streaks.

In the long, colorful history of baseball, there are three individual streaks that traditionally have stood above all others: the 2,632 consecutive games played by Baltimore shortstop Cal Ripken from 1982 to '98; the 56-game hitting streak of New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio in 1941 and the 59 consecutive shutout innings pitched by the Dodgers' Orel Hershiser in 1988.

The save only has been recognized as an official statistic since 1969, but given the different way relievers were used before that, and even for a few years after, it is safe to assume no pitcher ever did what Gagne has done without receiving credit for it.

Except for maybe Gagne, whose streak doesn't seem to resonate nationally.

``The newspaper writers and the television people, I don't know if they fully realize just what he has done and how impressive it is,'' Newcombe said.

Tracy agreed, saying, ``If you're around it every day, you certainly appreciate it. But if you're looking at it from afar, maybe you take it for granted a little bit.''

To a certain extent, perhaps the significance of the streak is lost even among Dodgers fans, obscured somewhat behind the whole Game Over thing.

``When Gagne comes in, you hear Guns N' Roses and the lights start flashing,'' said Vin Scully, now in his 55th season as a Dodgers broadcaster. ``But I don't know if the fans relate it to the streak. As we have seen, if a player sets the home run record for a career or a season, it's well-known. But if you ask even a devoted fan what the record is for consecutive saves, I'm not sure they would know.''

In terms of immortality, Gagne's streak might already belong with those of Ripken, DiMaggio and Hershiser because of the sheer unlikelihood that it will ever be matched. But sheer unlikelihood is a long way from absolute certainty.

For example, for the first 19 seasons after the Dodgers' Don Drysdale pitched 58 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in 1968, that record was considered unassailable. Then, in the 20th season, Hershiser surpassed it by the slimmest possible margin, pitching into the 10th inning of a game in San Diego to set the new standard.

``I would love to put (Gagne's streak) into the same context as Joe DiMaggio's feat or Orel's feat, and even include Don Drysdale's feat,'' Newcombe said. ``But those are outstanding feats that I don't think will ever be matched. But then, I didn't think Drysdale would be matched.''

Perhaps, then, Gagne's streak should be set apart, not necessarily equal to those other achievements but not necessarily subordinate to them, either. Perhaps it is folly to compare saves to hits or shutout innings or games played by an everyday position player.

Then again, the lack of attention notwithstanding, perhaps this one trumps them all.

``This one, to me, is number one,'' said Jaime Jarrin, now in his 46th season as a Dodgers Spanish-language broadcaster and, like Scully, a member of the broadcasting wing of the Hall of Fame.

``He has had so many chances to spoil it, but he has always come through. The way people react to his presence on the field is amazing. I can't recall any relief pitcher creating such a strong reaction. I remember Mike Marshall as a reliever, and he was incredible because of the way he could pitch every single day. He could pitch every single game without really warming up, just two or three pitches in the bullpen and he was ready to go.

``But he was nothing like Eric Gagne.''

Nationally, at least, it appears that Gagne's streak currently rests among a group of second-tier historical ones, perhaps with Cy Young's 16 consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins or Willie Keeler's eight years in a row with at least 200 hits.

But Ripken, DiMaggio and Hershiser all carried themselves quietly and conservatively, and all three probably would have been uncomfortable with anything like Gagne's Game Over shtick. But the nature of the closer role seems to fit it perfectly, even if Gagne's soft-spoken clubhouse demeanor in no way approximates the brashness with which he enters a game.

To the paying customers, the chance to stand and scream as Gagne runs across left field at the start of the ninth is an experience to be treasured more than any number in a record book.

``You often see a crowd hanging around to see a guy hit,'' Scully said. ``But I don't think I have ever seen a crowd hang around to see a relief pitcher. That, to me, is what makes it so special.''

Tony Jackson, [phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dodgers closer Eric Gagne has converted 70 consecutive saves, a streak that might never be matched.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer

(2) Eric Gagne's 70 saves in a row is a streak that possibly doesn't have the impact on fans like other great streaks.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) NOTABLE RECORD STREAKS

(2) THE STREAK