Fingers, "Rollie" (Roland G.)
Baseball
b. Aug. 25, 1946, Steubenville, OH
A remarkably long-lived relief pitcher, Fingers was a key member of the great Oakland Athletics teams of the early 1970s. After a brief stint with Oakland in 1968, he joined the team at the beginning of the 1969 season and was an unsuccessful starting pitcher until 1971, when he was moved into the bullpen.
Fingers later said that he worried so much about his starting assignments that he could never sleep the night before, so he pitched poorly. But he didn't seem to have any problem with worrying when he came out of the bullpen into a difficult situation.
From 1971 through 1976, Fingers appeared as a reliever in 346 games, compiling a 54-39 record with 105 saves. He led the league in games with 76 in 1974 and 75 in 1975. He also starred in post-season play. In 1972, he had a victory and two saves in Oakland's seven-game World Series win over the Cincinnati Reds.
The following year, he lost one game but had two more saves and gave up only 1 earned run in 13 2/3 innings as Oakland beat the New York Mets in seven games.
Fingers was named most valuable player of the 1974 World Series, when the As won their third straight championship with a five-game victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers; he picked up a victory and two more saves.
After a contract dispute, Oakland traded him to the NL's San Diego Padres in 1977, when he led the league with 78 appearances and 35 saves. Fingers also led in saves with 37 in 1978.
He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1981, but never pitched for them. Instead, he was sent on to the Milwaukee Brewers, and he was named the AL Cy Young Award winner and most valuable player, chalking up a 6-3 record with a league-leading 28 saves and a 1.04 ERA to help lead the Brewers into the East Division playoffs. Despite a victory and a save from Fingers, Milwaukee lost to the New York Yankees three games to two.
Because of tendinitis, Fingers missed the entire 1983 season. He came back to have a good year with Milwaukee in 1984, but retired after an ineffective 1985 season.
Distinguished by his long handlebar moustache, Fingers had a good fastball, an excellent slider, and very good control. In 17 seasons, he had a 114-118 record with 341 saves and a 2.90 ERA. He struck out 1,299 hitters and walked only 492 in 1,701 innings.