Rollie Fingers Marquee Hall of Fame 1992

b. August 25, 1946 · Oakland Athletics 1968–1976, San Diego Padres 1977–1980, Milwaukee Brewers 1981–1982, 1984–1985

Oakland tried him as a starter first, thirty-five starts between 1969 and 1971, before moving him to the last innings for good. The A's won the World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974 with him closing games, and he was named the Series' Most Valuable Player in 1974. On September 28, 1975 he finished a combined no-hitter behind Vida Blue.

San Diego signed him for 1977 and he led the National League in saves twice, with 35 and 37. His best year came in Milwaukee in 1981: 28 saves and a 1.04 earned run average in 47 games, and both the Cy Young Award and the Most Valuable Player award. He did not pitch at all in 1983.

His 300th save came on April 21, 1982, in a 3-1 win over Toronto, the first time any pitcher had reached the mark. He struck out 1,299 men and kept a 2.90 earned run average across 944 games. The handlebar mustache made him recognizable at any distance. The writers elected him in 1992, on his second ballot, with 349 of 430 votes.

Honors

Award	Times	Years
All-Star selection	7	1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1982
Reliever of the Year Award	4	1977, 1978, 1980, 1981
The Sporting News Fireman of the Year	4	1977, 1978, 1980, 1981
Cy Young Award	1	1981
Most Valuable Player	1	1981
Player of the Week	1	1976
World Series MVP	1	1974

Batting, season by season

Year	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1968	OAK	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1969	OAK	60	25	2	5	0	0	0	0	4	.200
1970	OAK	45	39	1	4	0	1	1	2	11	.103
1971	OAK	48	33	4	7	0	0	0	1	7	.212
1972	OAK	65	19	2	6	0	1	2	0	3	.316
1973	OAK	62	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
1974	OAK	76	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1975	OAK	76	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1976	OAK	70	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1977	SDP	78	20	0	1	0	0	2	0	9	.050
1978	SDP	67	12	0	2	0	0	2	0	3	.167
1979	SDP	54	12	1	1	0	0	2	0	2	.083
1980	SDP	66	18	0	5	3	0	0	0	5	.278
1981	MIL	47	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1982	MIL	50	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1984	MIL	33	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
1985	MIL	47	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—
Career	—	945	180	10	31	3	2	9	3	45	.172

Pitching, season by season

Year	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1968	OAK	0	0	1	0	0	1.1	4	4	1	0	27.00
1969	OAK	6	7	60	8	12	119.0	116	49	41	61	3.71
1970	OAK	7	9	45	19	2	148.0	137	60	48	79	3.65
1971	OAK	4	6	48	8	17	129.1	94	43	30	98	2.99
1972	OAK	11	9	65	0	21	111.1	85	31	32	113	2.51
1973	OAK	7	8	62	2	22	126.2	107	27	39	110	1.92
1974	OAK	9	5	76	0	18	119.0	104	35	29	95	2.65
1975	OAK	10	6	75	0	24	126.2	95	42	33	115	2.98
1976	OAK	13	11	70	0	20	134.2	118	37	40	113	2.47
1977	SDP	8	9	78	0	35	132.1	123	44	36	113	2.99
1978	SDP	6	13	67	0	37	107.1	84	30	29	72	2.52
1979	SDP	9	9	54	0	13	83.2	91	42	37	65	4.52
1980	SDP	11	9	66	0	23	103.0	101	32	32	69	2.80
1981	MIL	6	3	47	0	28	78.0	55	9	13	61	1.04
1982	MIL	5	6	50	0	29	79.2	63	23	20	71	2.60
1984	MIL	1	2	33	0	23	46.0	38	10	13	40	1.96
1985	MIL	1	6	47	0	17	55.1	59	31	19	24	5.04
Career	—	114	118	944	37	341	1701.1	1474	549	492	1299	2.90

On this day & linked events

1946

Born August 25, 1946

Steubenville, OH, USA

1968

Major-league debut: Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers made a major-league debut on September 15, 1968.

1975

Oakland Athletics Combined No-Hitter, 1975

Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad and Rollie Fingers threw a combined no-hitter for the Oakland Athletics against the California Angels on September 28, 1975, winning 5–0.

1982

Rollie Fingers Becomes the First 300-Save Closer

Milwaukee Brewers reliever Rollie Fingers records his 300th career save, the first pitcher in Major League history to reach the mark.

1985

Final major-league game: Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers played a final major-league game on September 17, 1985.

Image: Bbsrock, CC BY-SA 3.0