Rollie Fingers Stats

Rollie Fingers was born on Sunday, August 25, 1946, in Steubenville, Ohio. Fingers was 22 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 15, 1968, with the Oakland Athletics. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Rollie Fingers baseball stats page.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"A fellow has to have faith in God above and Rollie Fingers in the bullpen." - Dark, Alvin. Oakland Athletics Manager (1974-1975). The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball. Light, Jonathan Fraser. Author. McFarland Publishing. 13 July 2005. Page 334. [Rollie Fingers Quotes]

Rollie Fingers

Rollie 'Mr. Mustache' Fingers Autograph on a 1994 Ted Williams Baseball Card (#66)

Rollie 'Mr. Mustache' Fingers Autograph on a 1994 Ted Williams Baseball Card (#66)

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Birth Name:   Roland Glen Fingers
Nickname:   Mr. Mustache or Rollie
Born On:   08-25-1946  (Virgo)
Place of Birth Data Born In:   Steubenville, Ohio
Year of Death Data Died On:   Still Living (1,000 Oldest Living)
Place of Death Data Died In:   Still Living
Cemetery:   n/a
High School:   Upland High School (Upland, CA)
College:   None Attended
Batting Stances Chart Bats:   Right   Throwing Arms Chart Throws:   Right
Player Height Chart Height:   6-04   Player Weight Chart Weight:   195
First Game:   09-15-1968 (Age 22)
Last Game:   09-17-1985
Draft:   Undrafted Free Agent / Signing Bonus = $13,000

Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers Pitching Stats

1968 22 Athletics 1 0 0 0 0 .000 27.01 0 0 0 1.1 9 4 4 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 -
1969 23 Athletics 60 8 30 6 7 .462 3.71 1 1 12 119.0 503 116 49 60 13 41 5 61 1 4 1 -
1970 24 Athletics 45 19 9 7 9 .438 3.65 1 0 2 148.0 608 137 60 65 13 48 5 79 5 2 0 -
1971 25 Athletics 48 8 28 4 6 .400 2.99 2 1 17 129.1 503 94 43 46 14 30 3 98 1 8 0 -
1972 26 Athletics 65 0 41 11 9 .550 2.51 0 0 21 111.1 437 85 31 35 8 32 7 113 2 1 1 -
1973 27 Athletics 62 2 49 7 8 .467 1.92 0 0 22 126.2 521 107 27 41 5 39 6 110 2 4 0 -
1974 28 Athletics 76 0 60 9 5 .643 2.65 0 0 18 119.0 483 104 35 41 5 29 6 95 1 1 1 -
1975 29 Athletics 75 0 59 10 6 .625 2.98 0 0 24 126.2 493 95 42 43 13 33 5 115 6 6 0 -
1976 30 Athletics 70 0 62 13 11 .542 2.47 0 0 20 134.2 559 118 37 40 3 40 10 113 2 7 0 -
1977 31 Padres 78 0 69 8 9 .471 2.99 0 0 35 132.1 543 123 44 47 12 36 12 113 2 1 1 -
1978 32 Padres 67 0 62 6 13 .316 2.52 0 0 37 107.1 434 84 30 33 4 29 12 72 2 1 0 -
1979 33 Padres 54 0 41 9 9 .500 4.52 0 0 13 83.2 372 91 42 47 7 37 8 65 2 1 2 -
1980 34 Padres 66 0 46 11 9 .550 2.80 0 0 23 103.0 428 101 32 35 3 32 13 69 5 0 1 -
1981 35 Brewers 47 0 41 6 3 .667 1.04 0 0 28 78.0 297 55 9 9 3 13 5 61 1 1 0 -
1982 36 Brewers 50 0 45 5 6 .455 2.60 0 0 29 79.2 318 63 23 23 5 20 5 71 4 1 0 -
1984 38 Brewers 33 0 30 1 2 .333 1.96 0 0 23 46.0 193 38 10 13 5 13 2 40 2 0 0 -
1985 39 Brewers 47 0 37 1 6 .143 5.04 0 0 17 55.1 241 59 31 33 9 19 5 24 1 0 0 -
17 Years 944 37 709 114 118 .491 2.90 4 2 341 1,701.1 6,942 1,474 549 615 123 492 109 1,299 40 39 7 -

Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers Hitting Stats

1968 22 Athletics 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1969 23 Athletics 60 25 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 0 0 0 .200 .200 .200
1970 24 Athletics 45 39 1 4 0 0 1 0 1 2 0 11 4 0 0 1 .103 .146 .179
1971 25 Athletics 48 33 4 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7 5 0 0 0 .212 .235 .212
1972 26 Athletics 65 19 2 6 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 .316 .316 .474
1973 27 Athletics 62 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1974 28 Athletics 76 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1975 29 Athletics 76 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1976 30 Athletics 70 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1977 31 Padres 78 20 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 9 1 0 0 0 .050 .050 .050
1978 32 Padres 67 12 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 .167 .167 .167
1979 33 Padres 54 12 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 .083 .083 .083
1980 34 Padres 66 18 0 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 0 0 1 .278 .278 .444
1981 35 Brewers 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1982 36 Brewers 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1984 38 Brewers 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
1985 39 Brewers 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
17 Years 945 180 10 31 3 0 2 0 9 3 0 45 18 0 0 2 .172 .186 .222

Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers Fielding Stats

1968 Athletics P 1 0 4 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 0 n/a n/a n/a .000 0.00
1969 Athletics P 60 8 357 42 0.7 39 9 30 3 3 n/a n/a n/a .929 2.95
1970 Athletics P 45 19 444 35 0.8 33 7 26 2 3 n/a n/a n/a .943 2.01
1971 Athletics P 48 8 388 38 0.8 38 14 24 0 4 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.64
1972 Athletics P 65 0 334 18 0.3 18 7 11 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.46
1973 Athletics P 62 2 380 18 0.3 17 3 14 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .944 1.21
1974 Athletics P 76 0 357 30 0.4 30 9 21 0 4 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.27
1975 Athletics P 75 0 380 22 0.3 22 8 14 0 2 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.56
1976 Athletics P 70 0 404 31 0.4 30 4 26 1 2 n/a n/a n/a .968 2.00
1977 Padres P 78 0 397 27 0.3 24 5 19 3 0 n/a n/a n/a .889 1.63
1978 Padres P 67 0 322 27 0.4 26 14 12 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .963 2.18
1979 Padres P 54 0 251 13 0.2 12 3 9 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .923 1.29
1980 Padres P 66 0 309 21 0.3 20 9 11 1 0 n/a n/a n/a .952 1.75
1981 Brewers P 47 0 234 16 0.3 15 2 13 1 1 n/a n/a n/a .938 1.73
1982 Brewers P 50 0 239 14 0.3 14 4 10 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.58
1984 Brewers P 33 0 138 6 0.2 6 3 3 0 0 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 1.17
1985 Brewers P 47 0 166 17 0.4 17 7 10 0 1 n/a n/a n/a 1.000 2.77
P Totals 944 37 5,104 375 0.4 361 108 253 14 23 n/a n/a n/a .963 1.91
17 Years 944 37 5,104 375 0.4 361 108 253 14 23 n/a n/a n/a .963 1.91

Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers Miscellaneous Stats

1968 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.00 0.00 6.75
1969 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 6.3 0.0 1.49 4.61 3.10
1970 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 39.0 3.5 39.0 1.65 4.80 2.92
1971 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.7 0.0 3.27 6.82 2.09
1972 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 19.0 6.3 9.5 3.53 9.13 2.59
1973 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 1.0 0.0 2.82 7.82 2.77
1974 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.28 7.18 2.19
1975 Athletics 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.48 8.17 2.34
1976 Athletics 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.83 7.55 2.67
1977 Padres 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 2.2 10.0 3.14 7.69 2.45
1978 Padres 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 4.0 6.0 2.48 6.04 2.43
1979 Padres 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 6.0 6.0 1.76 6.99 3.98
1980 Padres 0 0 .000 0 0 n/a 0.0 3.6 0.0 2.16 6.03 2.80
1981 Brewers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.69 7.04 1.50
1982 Brewers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.55 8.02 2.26
1984 Brewers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.08 7.83 2.54
1985 Brewers 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.26 3.90 3.09
17 Years 0 0 .000 1 0 0 90.0 4.0 20.0 2.64 6.87 2.60

Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers Miscellaneous Items of Interest

1968 Oakland Athletics 32 $5,100.00 - -
1969 Oakland Athletics 34 $7,200.00 - -
1970 Oakland Athletics 34 $9,300.00 - -
1971 Oakland Athletics 34 $35,000.00 - -
1972 Oakland Athletics 34 $41,000.00 - Stats
1973 Oakland Athletics 34 $48,000.00 Stats Stats
1974 Oakland Athletics 34 $65,000.00 Stats Stats
1975 Oakland Athletics 34 $89,000.00 Stats -
1976 Oakland Athletics 34 $71,200.00 Stats -
1977 San Diego Padres 34 $266,667.00 - -
1978 San Diego Padres 34 $266,667.00 Stats -
1979 San Diego Padres 34 $266,667.00 - -
1980 San Diego Padres 34 $266,667.00 - -
1981 Milwaukee Brewers 34 $266,667.00 Stats -
1982 Milwaukee Brewers 34 $266,667.00 Stats -
1984 Milwaukee Brewers 34 $266,667.00 - -
1985 Milwaukee Brewers 34 $1,065,000.00 - -

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On June 7, 1980, Rollie Fingers recorded the 228th save of his career, the most games saved in Major League Baseball history, passing future hall of famer Hoyt Wilhelm (227 career saves). Fingers had the most saves in baseball history until he was passed by Jeff Reardon (in 1992), Lee Smith (in 1993), Trevor Hoffman (in 2006), then Mariano Rivera (in 2011). [Top 1,000 Career Saves]

Rollie

Rollie Fingers (Save #228) | The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) | June 8, 1980 | Page B-3
Baseball Almanac Research Library

Did you know that when Rollie Fingers was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he became only the second reliever in baseball history at Cooperstown, joining Hoyt Wilhelm (Class of 1985)? Dennis Eckersley (Class of 2004), Bruce Sutter (Class of 2006), Goose Gossage (Class of 2008), Trevor Hoffman (Class of 2018), Mariano Rivera (Class of 2019), and Lee Smith (Class of 2019) have since followed the pioneering pair of closers and we hope you'll enjoy a few more numbers of interest as they relate to the greatest handlebar mustache in baseball history:

1 - Rollie Fingers won one Cy Young Award (in 1981) and one Most Valuable Player Award (in 1981 also), the first Milwaukee Brewer in team history to win either one of those baseball awards.

3 - Rollie Fingers led the league in saves three times during his career, once in 1981, with the Milwaukee Brewers (AL), and in back-to-back seasons (1977-1978) with San Diego (NL), the first Padre pitcher to ever lead the league in saves.

4 - Rollie Fingers won four Rolaids Relief Man Awards during his career. His first two, 1977 and 1978, were the first won consecutively in the American League and he was the first pitcher from the junior circuit to win more than once. In 1980, he became the first relief pitcher to win it three times, receiving the honor a third time in the AL. When he won it in 1981, it was in the National League making him the first four time receipient and the first pitcher to receive the honor in both leagues.

34 - Rollie Fingers's number #34 was retired by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1992, and one year later, his number #34 was retired by the Oakland Athletics — one of only a few Major League players to have his number retired by more than one club.

7000 - The Los Angeles Dodgers offered Rollie Fingers, when he was 18-years-old, a $20,000 signing bonus in 1964 — a winning team that had a great pitching staff (Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale) and a farm system full of talented players. Fingers was concerned he would not make it to the major leagues for SEVERAL years. Later that same year, the Kansas City Athletics offered Rollie Fingers a $13,000 signing bonus ($7,000 less), an offer he signed on Christmas Eve!

Rollie Fingers Hall of Fame Plaque

Rollie Fingers | National Baseball Hall of Fame Plaque | Class of 1992 (HOF)

The mustache. No, the handlebar mustache. No, the Hall of Fame handlebar mustache. How did it start (was he born with it)? Nobody (in our opinion) described it better than 100 Things A's Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (Triumph Books. 1 June 2015. Page 90.):

For most of the 20th century, major-league players were clean-shaved, with few exceptions. Teams even had rules forbidding mustaches and beards.

Then came the 1970s, and Charlie Finley's Oakland A's. Reggie Jackson started it all, according to his teammates, when the outfielder showed up to spring training with a mustache in 1972. The rest of the A's hated it and tried to get Jackson to part with it, but according to reliever Rollie Fingers, "Reggie wouldn't shave, so Catfish [Hunter] and Darold Knowles and I were in the bullpen one day and decided, 'Let's start growing mustaches.' That way, Dick Williams would get upset and say, 'You all have to shave them off,' and that would mean Reggie had to shave his."

That plan backfired. The unpredictable Finley, instead of blowing his top, loved the idea. He announced plans for a "Mustache Day" at the Oakland Coliseum, and promised $300 to ever player who participated by growing one.

"For $300," quipped Ken Holtzman, "I'd grow hair on my feet."

The A's were winning with their new look, and, Fingers said, "Ballplayers are the most superstitious animals who ever lived. A lot of guys kept their mustaches and we kept winning and then we won the World Series. We became known as 'The Mustache Gang' and we won again the next year and the next year."

Fingers' Snidely Whiplash-style whiskers were the most recognizable of all. (See image below)

"I grew mine as a handlebar just to be different," he said. When I let it grow, it got kind of long, and I said, 'What the heck, I'll twirl it up to see what it looks like.' I got more and more press, so I said, 'Okay,' and kept going and going.

Snidely Whiplash

Snidely Whiplash | Created by Jay Ward | The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show (1959-1964)
Baseball Almanac Research Library