Rollie Fingers

The mustachioed reliever who redefined the closer role and led Oakland to three straight World Series titles.

Roland Glen Fingers (born August 25, 1946) is an American former right handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1968 and 1985. His effectiveness helped to redefine the value of relievers within baseball and to usher in the modern closer role. A seven-time All-Star, he led the major leagues in saves three times, and was named Rolaids Relief Man of the Year four times. He first gained prominence as a member of the Oakland Athletics championship teams of the early 1970s, when his flamboyant handlebar mustache made him perhaps the most identifiable member of The Mustache Gang, which led Oakland to become the only non-New York Yankees team ever to win three consecutive World Series titles. Fingers was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1974 World Series after earning a win in the opener and saves in the last three games to secure the title. Fingers joined the San Diego Padres as a free agent after the 1976 season, and led the major leagues with 35 saves in 1977 before tying the National League (NL) single season record with 37 saves the following year. Traded to the Milwaukee Brewers after the 1980 season, he led that team to its first playoff appearance in 1981, receiving the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award and Cy Young Award after earning 28 saves in the strike-shortened season with an earned run average (ERA) of only 1.04, allowing just 9 runs in 78 innings pitched. He also helped them reach the World Series in 1982, the team's only appearance to date. Having surpassed Hoyt Wilhelm's major league record for career saves in 1980, Fingers was the first pitcher to reach 300 saves, and retired after the 1985 season with 341 saves, which remained the record until surpassed by Jeff Reardon in 1992. He set franchise records for career saves for all three of his teams, holding the Athletics mark from 1973 to 1990, the Padres record from 1977 to 1997, and the Brewers record from 1984 to 1989. At the end of his career he also ranked third in major league history in career games pitched (944), relief wins (107) and relief innings pitched, and second in strikeouts in relief (1,183); he held the Padres franchise record for career games pitched from 1980 to 1989. His career ERA of 2.90 ranked eighth among pitchers with at least 1,500 innings pitched after 1930.

Quick Facts

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right
Born: 25 August 1946
Birthplace: Steubenville, Ohio, U.S.
Debutleague: MLB
Debutdate: September 15
Debutyear: 1968
Debutteam: Oakland Athletics

Lore & Background

Fingers was born in Steubenville, Ohio, to George Michael Fingers and Edna Pearl (née Stafford) Fingers. His father (who had played minor league baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and roomed with Stan Musial), worked in a Steubenville steel mill. One day, George Fingers came home from work fed up and said, "That's it, we're moving to California." His father then sold the house for $1,500, bought a car, and took the family to Cucamonga (San Bernardino County), a town which was later incorporated (together with three others) as the city of Rancho Cucamonga. They could not afford hotels, so they slept in sleeping bags beside the highway. After arriving in California, George Fingers eventually had to go back to being a steelworker at the nearby Kaiser Steel mill. Fingers attended Upland High School in nearby Upland. He attended one semester at Chaffey Junior College. The Los Angeles Dodgers offered Fingers a signing bonus of $20,000, but Fingers thought he had no chance to reach the major leagues for years because the Dodgers had a solid pitching staff including Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, they were already winning pennants, and their farm system appeared to be full of talented players. He turned down the Dodgers' offer and signed with the Kansas City Athletics for less money (a $13,000 signing bonus) on Christmas Eve 1964. At first, the Athletics did not know whether to make him a pitcher or outfielder, but after deciding to play him as a pitcher, he was assigned to the Leesburg A's of the Class A Florida State League for the 1965 season. In 1966, he played for the Modesto Reds of the Class A California League, and he played for two seasons (1968 and 1969) for the Birmingham A's of the Class AA Southern League. On minor league opening day 1967 in Birmingham—just nine days after he married his high school sweetheart Jill, the Upland High School team statistician—a hit baseball struck Fingers in the face, breaking his cheekbone, jaw, and knocking out some teeth. His jaw was wired shut for five weeks, and when he returned to action, Fingers jumped every time the ball was hit; it took him about half the remaining season to get used to being on the mound again. Fingers was a starting pitcher throughout his minor league career.

Reader's Guide

He joined the Athletics late in the 1968 season, their first after relocating to Oakland, and made his major league debut in relief on September 15 in a road game against the Detroit Tigers. It was a disastrous beginning, as he allowed four hits including a Bill Freehan home run, walked one batter and hit another, and threw a wild pitch, allowing four runs while getting just four outs en route to a 13–0 loss; it was his only appearance of the year. The 1969 season was a dramatic improvement; he picked up his first career win with a complete game shutout on April 22, a 7-0 road win against the Minnesota Twins, and earned his first save on May 13 against the Boston Red Sox. Fingers started 19 games in 1970; however, a May 15, 1971 road start against the Kansas City Royals was his last in regular rotation. During that game, he gave up one run on four hits in five full innings. On April 29, he recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts in a 3–2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, a pitching duel with Jim Palmer; it was the last complete game he would pitch. Fingers was called upon as a reliever in a game on May 21, entering in the first inning against the Twins in Oakland after starter Blue Moon Odom gave up three runs and three walks in just eight batters. Fingers pitched innings, allowing three hits and two runs. Late that month, Athletics manager Dick Williams decided that Fingers would be the late-inning closer. Beginning with that game and continuing until July 15, Fingers recorded consecutive scoreless innings, with 11 scoreless appearances in between including a win and six saves, as well as a 7-inning relief stint on July 9 against the California Angels. During the 1972 season, Fingers entered games in the fifth inning on four occasions, but mostly entered in the sixth inning or later. He did start two games in 1973—April 21 at home versus the Angels and May 7 on the road against the Orioles, the latter being the final start of his career. Other than those two games, for the remainder of his career, his earliest entrance into a game was in the sixth inning, which happened on three more occasions. He usually entered in the seventh, eighth, or ninth innings. During the 1973 season, Fingers broke John Wyatt's record of 73 career saves with the Athletics.

Did You Know?

He won both the AL MVP and Cy Young Award in the strike-shortened 1981 season.
Fingers was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992, only the second reliever elected after Hoyt Wilhelm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Rollie Fingers for the Athletics?

He was a right-handed relief pitcher who played in Oakland from 1968 through 1976. He became famous as a member of The Mustache Gang during their championship run.

How many World Series titles did he win?

He secured three consecutive championships with Oakland between 1972 and 1974. This achievement made them the only non-Yankees team to ever accomplish a three-peat at that time.

What major honors did Rollie Fingers receive?

He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1974 World Series after saving the final three games. Additionally, he became a seven-time All-Star and entered the Hall of Fame in 1992.