Biography

Call 1.800.966.1380 to contact Rollie Fingers booking agent, publicist, manager, pr firm, representative and management company if you would like to hire Rollie Fingers for a speaker appearance, autograph signing, endorsement deal or corporate event. Here you can find speaker fees, booking fees, costs, availability and schedule information. Baseball great, Rollie Fingers, was born Roland Glen Fingers on August 25, 1946, in Steubenville, Ohio. Rollie Fingers is a former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics (1968–76), San Diego Padres (1977–80) and Milwaukee Brewers (1981–85).

In addition to Rollie Fingers pitching ability, he was noted for his handlebar moustache which he originally grew to get a $300 bonus from Athletics owner Charles O. Finley. Although most former A's players shaved their handlebar moustaches off after the team traded most of their players in 1975-76, Fingers maintained it after being traded to the Padres in 1977 and still has the moustache today.

Rollie Fingers was one of the first players groomed in his minor league career to be a relief pitcher once he reached the majors. His former owner with the Athletics, Charles O. Finley, was one of the first to do this. Prior to this, most pitchers were starters first and foremost and usually ended up in the bullpen by either necessity or afterthought.

When Fingers reached the major leagues, the role of relief pitchers was limited, as starting pitchers rarely left games while holding a lead; but as team offense increased following the 1968 season, and especially with the American League's introduction of the designated hitter in 1973, managers became more willing to replace starters in the late innings with a lead in order to forestall any late rallies by opponents. Through the 1960s, both leagues' annual saves leaders tended toward totals of 20–25 saves; few pitchers remained in the role more than two or three years, with significant exceptions such as Roy Face and knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm. But in the 1970s, in an era allowing for greater opportunities for closers than had previously been available, Fingers' excellence in relief allowed him to gradually increase his annual saves totals past 30. In 1980 he broke Wilhelm's record of 227 saves, and eventually finished with 341, a record that stood until Jeff Reardon passed it in 1992.

Fingers is regarded as a pioneer of modern relief pitching, essentially defining the role of the closer for years to come. As had generally been true in baseball through the 1960s, Fingers was originally moved to the bullpen – and eventually to his role as a closer – due to struggles with starting. Before Fingers' time, a former starter's renewed success in the bullpen would have led back to a spot in the starting rotation; but since the successes of not only Fingers but also contemporaries such as Sparky Lyle and Goose Gossage, it has been widely accepted that an excellent pitcher might actually provide a greater benefit to his team as a closer than as a third or fourth starter. (Gossage, for example, was moved to the starting rotation after a first few seasons in relief — and he got clobbered despite pitching 17 complete games and was then moved back to the bullpen to stay.) As a result, later teams have been more willing to move successful starters — notably Dennis Eckersley, Dave Righetti, and John Smoltz — to the permanent role of closer, with no plans to bring them back to the rotation (although Smoltz bucked that trend by successfully returning to the rotation in 2005). In 2006, Bruce Sutter became the first pitcher in baseball history elected to the Hall of Fame who never started a game in his major league career.

Rollie Fingers's number 34 was retired by the Oakland Athletics in 1993.

Rollie Fingers's number 34 was retired by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1992.

Rollie Fingers won both the American League MVP and Cy Young Award in 1981 while with Milwaukee. In 1974 he was given the World Series MVP Award while with Oakland, earning two saves and one win. Fingers won the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award in 1977, 1978, and 1980 with the Padres and in 1981 with the Brewers. He saved 29 games for the 1982 Brewers, but he pitched most of the season in pain and was forced to miss the Brewers' first trip to the World Series — where they were beaten in seven games by the Cardinals — and any prospect of a showdown or two with Bruce Sutter, who proved vital to the Cardinals' winning effort.

In 1992 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, joining Wilhelm to become only the second reliever inducted (Eckersley, Sutter, and Gossage have since followed). In 1999, he ranked Number 96 on The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players, and was nominated as a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Fingers later pitched a season in the short-lived Senior Professional Baseball League.

Rollie Fingers is one of only eight players who have had their numbers retired from more than one team.