St. Marys –  Eric Gagné was presented with his second consecutive Tip O'Neill Award Tuesday night at SkyDome, but this one won't have Larry Walker's name on it. Gagné and Walker split the 2002 award, presented annually by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum to the player judged to have excelled in individual achievement and team contribution while adhering to baseball's highest ideals.

While Gagné was notified of winning the 2003 Tip O'Neill Award last Fall, it was decided to wait and present the trophy to him in person today because of the rare appearance of the Los Angeles Dodgers at SkyDome due to interleague play.

In what was arguably the greatest single season ever recorded by a major league reliever, Gagné's 55 saves were the second best all-time (Chicago White Sox Bobby Thigpen had 57 saves in 1990), his microscopic ERA was a career best 1.20, and he struck out 137 hitters over 82.1 innings. His average of 15 strikeouts per 9 innings is a major league record. He won the Cy Young Award, the second Canadian to Fergie Jenkins to do so, as well as The Sporting News National League Pitcher & Reliever of the Year and the National League Players' Choice Award as Top Pitcher. Gagné became the first major leaguer to record two consecutive 50-save seasons (he had 52 in 2002), and currently has a major league record of 76 consecutive saves. He limited his opponents to a .133 batting average, and allowed an average of only 6.5 runners per 9 innings, both best in the majors this year. He was a National League All-Star and won the Rolaids Relief Man Award.

"I would trade all of the individual awards for a World Series ring in a heartbeat," the Mascouche, Quebec native said upon hearing the news. "But it is awesome to be given this award when there are so many great Canadians now contributing at the major league level. The best thing that could come of this is that more Canadian kids will sign up to play ball next year."

Moncton, NB's Rheal Cormier, who had a perfect 8-0 season and a career best 1.70 ERA in 65 appearances with the Phillies, finished second in the voting. Placing third was New Westminster, BC's Justin Morneau, who made his major league debut with the Minnesota Twins but was more noted for his team-leading five homeruns when Team Canada won an Olympic berth in November. Rounding out the top five were Port Hope, ON's Paul Quantrill, who appeared in a personal best 89 games and recorded the lowest ERA (1.75) of his career for the Dodgers, and Anola, MB's Corey Koskie, who batted .292 for the Twins and finished second in the American League in fielding percentage for third basemen.

Also receiving votes were Matt Stairs, Larry Walker, Aaron Guiel, Rich Harden, Simon Pond, Stubby Clapp, Rob Butler, Chris Mears, Erik Bedard, "Team Canada", Ian Choy and Cherie Piper.

"I am pleased for Eric both as a teammate and as a friend," said Quantrill, Gagné's 2003 set up man who is currently with the Yankees. "He has come a long way and grown into one of the game's premier pitchers. He has earned everything that has come his way."

Tom Valcke, president & CEO of the Hall, added "Naturally, we were pulling for Eric to edge Mike Weir for the Lou Marsh award, and I hope this is some vindication for him. Aside from Weir's spectacular year, looking back in history, we weren't overly surprised to see Eric finish second in the Marsh voting. When Fergie Jenkins won the Cy Young in 1971, Herve Filion won the Marsh, and when Larry Walker won the NL MVP in 1997, the Marsh was awarded to Jacques Villeneuve. However, Fergie did win the Marsh in '74, and Larry took it home in '98, so hopefully it is in the cards for Eric in the near future."

Note: James 'Tip' O'Neill was one of Major League baseball's first legitimate stars. With the St. Louis Browns in 1887, O'Neill batted .492, Slg-.691, Hits-225, Doubles-52, Triples-19, Homeruns-14, Total Bases-357, Runs-167 (4th all-time for a single season), RBI's 123. The outfielder from Woodstock, Ontario set major league records in hits, doubles, slugging percentage, and total bases that season while compiling an astounding .492 batting average (walks were included as hits in 1887, but if his average was calculated by today's standard, it was .435, the second highest in major league history to Hugh Duffy, .438).