Rollie Fingers
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{{Infobox MLB retired
|name=Rollie Fingers
|image= Rolliefingers.JPG
|caption=
|position=[[Pitcher]]
|bats=Right
|throws=Right
|birthdate={{birth date and age|1946|8|25}}<br>{{city-state|Steubenville|Ohio}}
|debutdate=[[September 15]]
|debutyear={{by|1968}}
|debutteam=[[Oakland Athletics]]
|finaldate=[[September 17]]
|finalyear={{by|1985}}
|finalteam=[[Milwaukee Brewers]]
|stat1label=[[Win-Loss record]]
|stat1value=114-118
|stat2label=[[Save (baseball)|Saves]]
|stat2value=341
|stat3label=[[Earned run average]]
|stat3value=2.90
|teams=<nowiki></nowiki><!--This forces MediaWiki to recognize the first bullet. Kind of a workaround to a bug.-->
* [[Oakland Athletics]] ({{by|1968}}-{{by|1976}})
* [[San Diego Padres]] ({{by|1977}}-{{by|1980}})
* [[Milwaukee Brewers]] ({{by|1981}}-{{by|1985}})
|highlights=<nowiki></nowiki>
* 7x [[MLB All-Star Game|All-Star]] selection (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1982)
* 3x [[World Series]] champion ([[1972 World Series|1972]], [[1973 World Series|1973]], [[1974 World Series|1974]])
* 1981 [[AL MVP]]
* 1981 [[AL Cy Young Award]]
* 1974 [[World Series MVP]]
* 3x [[NL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year]] (1977, 1978, 1980)
* 1981 [[NL Rolaids Relief Man of the Year]]
* [[Oakland Athletics#Retired Numbers|Oakland Athletics #34]] retired
* [[Milwaukee Brewers#Retired Numbers|Milwaukee Brewers #34]] retired
|hofdate={{by|1992}}
|hofvote=81.16%
}}
'''Roland Glen Fingers''' (born [[August 25]], [[1946]], in [[Steubenville, Ohio]]) 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 his pitching ability, he was noted for his [[handlebar moustache]] which he originally grew to get a $300 bonus from Athletics owner [[Charles O. Finley]].
==Fingers and modern relief pitching==
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 pitcher]]s was limited, as [[starting pitcher]]s rarely left games while holding a lead; but as team offense increased following the 1968 season, and especially with the [[American League|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 [[save (sport)|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 [[knuckleball]]er [[Hoyt Wilhelm]]. But in the 1970s, in an era allowing for greater opportunities for [[closer (baseball)|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 baseball|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.
==Awards==
{{MLBBioRet
|Image = OaklandRetired34.PNG
|Name = Rollie Fingers
|Number = 34
|Team = Oakland Athletics
|Year = 1993
|}}
{{MLBBioRet
|Image = Milret34.PNG
|Name = Rollie Fingers
|Number = 34
|Team = Milwaukee Brewers
|Year = 1992
|}}
Fingers won both the [[American League]] [[MLB Most Valuable Player award|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.
Fingers is one of only eight players who have [[List of Major League Baseball players with numbers retired from two or more teams|had their numbers retired from more than one team]].
==Trivia==
{{Unreferenced|date=April 2008}}
Rollie Fingers and 4 other members of his family appeared on a 1983 episode of the [[game show]] ''[[Family Feud]]''. After the opening theme, to honor Fingers, host [[Richard Dawson]] led the crowd in a chorus of ''[[Take Me Out to the Ball Game]]''.
==Income tax controversy==
''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' reported on [[January 2]], [[2007]] that Fingers owes Wisconsin (in 2007) more than $1.4 million in income taxes and is the seventh biggest tax delinquent in the state.<ref>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/01/03/bc.bbo.fingers.taxdelin.ap/index.html?cnn=yes</ref> Fingers disputes the claim, saying he was shocked when he learned of it and that taxes were properly withheld from his Brewers paychecks.<ref>[http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2732444 ESPN - Hall of Famer Fingers disputes tax delinquency - MLB<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
On August 15, 2007, the Associated Press reported that Fingers' name had been removed from Wisconsin's delinquent tax list the previous month. "That's all been taken care of," he told the AP. "I've had more people try to tell me, 'You know, you owe 1.4 million dollars.' I said, 'No, I don't.' We got all that squared away. I had to go all the way back to 1981 on my income taxes. That's all been taken care of, and I did pay my taxes back then, so there's no problem. The revenue department's happy with me right now, so it's all been resolved."
==See also==
* [[Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball saves champions]]
* [[List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders]]
* [[Games finished]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://rolliefingerssportsblog.com Official site and blog]
* [http://www.rolliefingers34.com Rollie Fingers Fan Center]
*{{baseball-reference|id=f/fingero01}}
{| class="toccolours collapsible collapsed" width=70% align="center"
|-
! style="background:#ccccff"| Accomplishments
|-
|
{{start box}}
{{succession box | before = [[Reggie Jackson]] | title = [[World Series MVP Award|World Series MVP]]| years = 1974 | after = [[Pete Rose]]}}
{{succession box
| title = [[List of Major League Baseball saves champions|National League Saves Champion]]
| years = 1977-1978
| before = [[Rawly Eastwick]]
| after = [[Bruce Sutter]]
}}
{{succession box
| title = [[List of Major League Baseball saves champions|American League Saves Champion]]
| years = 1981
| before = [[Goose Gossage]] & [[Dan Quisenberry]]
| after = [[Dan Quisenberry]]
}}
{{succession box | before = [[George Brett (baseball)|George Brett]] | title = [[MLB Most Valuable Player Award|American League Most Valuable Player]]| years = 1981 | after = [[Robin Yount]]}}
{{succession box | before = [[Steve Stone (baseball player)|Steve Stone]] | title = [[Cy Young Award|American League Cy Young Award]]| years = 1981 | after = [[Pete Vuckovich]]}}
{{end box}}
|}
{{1972 Oakland Athletics}}
{{1973 Oakland Athletics}}
{{1974 Oakland Athletics}}
{{AL Cy Young}}
{{AL MVPs}}
{{World Series MVPs}}
{{NL Relief Man Award Winners}}
{{AL Relief Man Award Winners}}
{{Oakland Athletics}}
{{Milwaukee Brewers}}
{{Athletics Retired Numbers}}
{{Brewers Retired Numbers}}
{{1992 Baseball HOF}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fingers, Rollie}}
[[Category:Baseball Hall of Fame]]
[[Category:Cy Young Award winners]]
[[Category:American League All-Stars]]
[[Category:National League All-Stars]]
[[Category:American League saves champions]]
[[Category:National League saves champions]]
[[Category:Milwaukee Brewers players]]
[[Category:Oakland Athletics players]]
[[Category:San Diego Padres players]]
[[Category:Major league pitchers]]
[[Category:Major league players from Ohio]]
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Birmingham Barons players]]
[[Category:People from Jefferson County, Ohio]]
[[de:Rollie Fingers]]
[[ja:ローリー・フィンガーズ]]