Rollie Fingers
Fingers was the quintessential reliever of his time, used when the situation demanded. He would often enter the game as early as the fifth inning, throwing as many as 120-130 innings in relief for a season. He was known for his handlebar mustache, which he first grew as a member of the Oakland A's "Mustache Gang" in response to owner Charlie Finley's cash incentive.
| Career Batting Stats |
| G |
AB |
H |
R |
HR |
RBI |
SB |
AVG |
SLG |
OBP |
OPS |
OPS+ |
| 945 |
180 |
31 |
10 |
2 |
9 |
0 |
.172 |
.222 |
.186 |
.408 |
58.4 |
|
Where does Rollie Fingers rank among baseball greats?
Rollie Fingers ranks #5 among the Top 50 all-time at RP. Rankings ⇒
Best Season: 1981
He was as close to automatic as a reliever had ever been. In 78 innings he walked just 13 and flashed a 1.04 ERA. He saved 28 and won six, figuring in 55% of Milwaukee's victories in the strike-shortened season. He won both the Cy Young and the MVP award
Factoids
Rollie Fingers recorded the final out of the 1972 World Series, Oakland's first championship. He pitched the last two innings for the save.
Rollie Fingers earned the win or a save in eight of Oakland's 12 victories in their three World Series championships, from 1972-1974.
Strange Deals
Rollie Fingers was part of a few historic deals and non-deals during his career. On June 18, 1976, A's owner Charlie Finley announced he had swapped Fingers and Joe Rudi to the Boston Red Sox, and also that he had sold Vida Blue to the New York Yankees. However, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the deals, citing that they were "not in the best interest of baseball." While an enraged Finley sued MLB, the A's sat Fingers, Rudi and Blue on the bench until the issue was resolved in Kuhn's favor in June.
Fingers was briefly a St. Louis Cardinal. On December 8, 1980, the San Diego Padres dealt their star reliever to St. Louis in an 11-player trade that brought Terry Kennedy to San Diego. Just four days later, Whitey Herzog, having already acquired Bruce Sutter to be his closer from the Chicago Cubs, sent Fingers packing again. The Cards' mastermind sent Fingers, Ted Simmons, and Pete Vuckovich to the Milwaukee Brewers for Lary Sorensen, Sixto Lezcano, and minor leaguers David Green and Dave LaPoint. In so doing, Herzog traded the next two winner's of the AL Cy Young award to Milwaukee. But he got the last laugh, defeating Milwaukee in the 1982 World Series in seven games.
Where He Played
Relief pitcher. Fingers started just 37 games, and relieved in more than 900.
Born
Roland Glen Fingers was born on August 25, 1946, in Steubenville, OH.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
Major League Debut
9 15,
Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1968
Ted Simmons
Al Oliver
Hal McRae
Dusty Baker
Richie Hebner
Bobby Bonds
Rollie Fingers
Andy Messersmith
Freddie Patek
Uniform Numbers
#32 (1968), #34 (1969-1982, 1984-1985)
Similar Players
None
Related Players
Johnny Bench, whom Fingers struck out in the 1972 World Series after duping the Reds' slugger into thinking he was intentionally walking him. This trick had been used before in baseball history, but never in such a pivotal game.
| Hall of Fame Voting |
| Year |
Election |
Votes |
Pct |
| 1991 |
BBWAA |
291 |
65.7% |
1992 |
BBWAA |
349 |
81.2% |
|
No-Hitter
9/28/1975: For OAK (A) vs. CAL (A), 5-0 at OAK. 2 innings pitched.
Post-Season Appearances
1971 American League Championship Series
1972 American League Championship Series
1972 World Series
1973 American League Championship Series
1973 World Series
1974 American League Championship Series
1974 World Series
1975 American League Championship Series
1981 American League Division Playoffs
Post-Season Notes
Fingers was the 1974 World Series MVP when he pitched in four of the five games, winning one and saving two. With the A's he pitched in 16 of the 19 World Series games from 1972-1974. His team's played 44 post-season games and Fingers pitched in 30 of them.
Rollie was a member of the 1972, 1973, and 1974 Oakland A's - the only team other than the Yankees to ever win three consecutive World Series.
Awards and Honors
1974 ML WS MVP
1977 NL Rolaids Relief
1978 NL Rolaids Relief
1980 NL Rolaids Relief
1981 AL Cy Young
1981 AL MVP
1981 AL Rolaids Relief
Transactions
December 24, 1964: Signed by the Kansas City Athletics as an amateur free agent; November 1, 1976: Granted Free Agency;
December 14, 1976: Signed as a Free Agent with the San Diego Padres; December 8, 1980: Traded by the San Diego Padres with a player to be named later, Bob Shirley, and Gene Tenace to the St. Louis Cardinals for Terry Kennedy, Steve Swisher, Mike Phillips, John Littlefield, John Urrea, Kim Seaman, and Al Olmsted. The San Diego Padres sent Bob Geren (December 10, 1980) to the St. Louis Cardinals to complete the trade; December 12, 1980: Traded by the St. Louis Cardinals with Ted Simmons and Pete Vuckovich to the Milwaukee Brewers for Sixto Lezcano, David Green, Lary Sorensen, and Dave LaPoint; November 8, 1984: Granted Free Agency; January 16, 1985: Signed as a Free Agent with the Milwaukee Brewers; November 14, 1985: Released by the Milwaukee Brewers.
All-Star Selections
1973 AL
1974 AL
1975 AL
1976 AL
1978 NL
1981 AL
1982 AL
Best Strength as a Player
His rubber arm. Fingers pitched at least 100 innings in relief eight times in his career.
Largest Weakness as a Player
None. Fingers was durable, had excellent control, rarely gave up the longball, was a fine defensive pitcher, and he even hit the ball well, though his batting record was erratic after the DH was implemented.
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