"His whole attitude is absolutely unbelievable," Quebec Manager Michel Laplante said.
Gagne is a hero here, living history in a place to which sports history has not been kind. The local sporting goods stores display in their windows the jerseys of the Quebec Nordiques, the NHL team that moved to Denver 14 years ago, and the Montreal Expos, the major league team that moved to Washington five years ago.
Hockey will reign forever in Quebec. Alas, baseball is dying among the youth here.
Gagne grew up rooting for the Expos, dreaming of baseball. The Expos are no more, but perhaps the dreams can live again, among one or two or three of the kids in the standing-room-only crowds that gather when Gagne pitches.
"He might be the one to revive baseball in Quebec," said Pierre-Luc Nappert, the Capitales' director of media relations. "He has the power to do it."
Gagne is in Quebec to revive his career. He is trying to work his way back from a partially torn rotator cuff, with four appearances so far and a fastball Laplante put at 84-87 mph. He should get stronger, and presumably better, and if so he could get a minor league contract in August, or a spring training invitation next year.
He is in baseball limbo here, not because of the Mitchell Report, but because of his shoulder. What was once a national outrage over baseball's steroid era has evolved into a national fatigue.
If Ramirez hits, Dodgers fans cheer.
"Everybody makes mistakes," Gagne said. "You keep going. You do what you do. What Manny does best is hit balls. Manny is an entertainer. That's not just in L.A. It's anywhere. If you're a fan . . . you want to see something special."
There was no better entertainer in L.A. than Gagne, back in the day.
"That's why I keep going to the ballpark," he said. "I'm searching for that again."
Gagne relives it every day. His 5-year-old son scampers about in a Dodgers cap. His 3-year-old daughter is named Bluu -- yes, he said, for Dodger blue. If his fastball comes back, perhaps he could too. He has committed no sin that would prevent him from another stint in L.A. All the fans here Saturday could see that. They flocked to Stade Municipal once again, but Gagne's start was rained out. They waited out the rain delay beneath the stands, in a concourse where the television showed Ramirez, the one with the dreadlocks, at-bat in Dodger blue.
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bill.shaikin@latimes.com
