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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.
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. 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. 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.
This jersey originates from the personal collection of Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers. Powder blue road Milwaukee Brewers jersey worn by Fingers during the team's last pennant-winning season of 1982. Jersey is tagged in the tail with a Sand-Knit Medalist size 44 tag and a Designed & Tailored Exclusively for the Milwaukee Brewers tag. The inside of the rear tail is tagged with a white printed strip tag that reads "82 FINGERS * 44S". Due to extensive laundering and wear, the blue of the jersey has bled into the white tag. Overall, this jersey exhibits tremendous evidence of use. Use includes some sun fading in the shoulder area, extensive wash wear, a team repair just below the back of the collar, three tiny holes near the #3 on the back, and some minor staining throughout. Most importantly, this jersey comes with a hand-written and hand-signed Certificate of Authenticity from Rollie Fingers, on one of his personal Hall of Fame note cards. A perfect jersey with undeniable provenance. View Lot Detail page