Roland Glen Fingers (born August 25, 1946) is an American former right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for three teams between 1968 and 1985.

Fingers was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1974 World Series after earning a win in the opener and saves in the last three games to secure the title.

Traded to the Milwaukee Brewers after the 1980 season, he led that team to its first playoff appearance in 1981, receiving the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award and Cy Young Award after earning 28 saves in the strike-shortened season with an earned run average (ERA) of only 1.04, allowing just 9 runs in 78 innings pitched.

[1][2] His father (who had played minor league baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals and roomed with Stan Musial), worked in a Steubenville steel mill.

The Los Angeles Dodgers offered Fingers a signing bonus of $20,000, but Fingers thought he had no chance to reach the major leagues for years because the Dodgers had a solid pitching staff including Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, they were already winning pennants, and their farm system appeared to be full of talented players.

His jaw was wired shut for five weeks, and when he returned to action, Fingers jumped every time the ball was hit; it took him about half the remaining season to get used to being on the mound again.

[9] He joined the Athletics late in the 1968 season, their first after relocating to Oakland, and made his major league debut in relief on September 15 in a road game against the Detroit Tigers.

Fingers was called upon as a reliever in a game on May 21, entering in the first inning against the Twins in Oakland after starter Blue Moon Odom gave up three runs and three walks in just eight batters.

Though the incident lasted less than a minute, Fingers required six stitches on his head, and Odom sprained his ankle and had a noticeable limp.

Near the end of his time with the Padres, Fingers passed teammate Randy Jones to become the club's career leader with 265 games pitched.

After the 1980 season, on December 8, the Padres traded Fingers, Gene Tenace, Bob Shirley, and a player to be named later (later selected to be Bob Geren) to the St. Louis Cardinals for Terry Kennedy, John Littlefield, Al Olmsted, Mike Phillips, Kim Seaman, Steve Swisher, and John Urrea.

[23][24] A few days later, the Cardinals traded Fingers, Ted Simmons, and Pete Vuckovich to the Milwaukee Brewers for Sixto Lezcano, Lary Sorensen, David Green, and Dave LaPoint.

On September 4, 1985, Fingers broke Sparky Lyle's American League record of 232 career saves, retiring the side in the 9th inning of an 11-10 road win against the Twins.

His last major league appearance was on September 17 against the Orioles at Memorial Stadium; he pitched in relief of Teddy Higuera in the bottom of the eighth inning, facing two batters.

He allowed a home run to Gary Roenicke, but struck out Rick Dempsey to end the inning as the Orioles won 6–0.

[29] Largely because of changes in relief pitching and the increased use of closers which he had helped popularize, Fingers's various team and league records were surpassed in the years following his retirement.

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.

However, with the successes of Fingers and 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.

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.

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.

[30] In addition to his pitching ability, Fingers was noted for his waxed handlebar moustache, which he originally grew to get a $300 bonus from Athletics owner Charles O. Finley.

Instead, Finley, ever the showman who would do almost anything to sell tickets, then offered prize money to the player who could best grow and maintain their facial hair until Opening Day—April 15 versus Minnesota.

Lastly, Johnny Bench noted that as a catcher, seeing Fingers's mustache prepared him en route to winning two World Series with the Cincinnati Reds.

On August 15, the Associated Press reported that Fingers's name had been removed from Wisconsin's delinquent tax list the previous month.

"[40] On April 1, 2009, Rollie Fingers and co-author Christopher "Yellowstone" Ritter released: The work is a non-fiction baseball book that combines elements of humor, anecdotal storytelling, odd lists and historical trivia.

After the opening theme, to honor Fingers, host Richard Dawson led the crowd in a chorus of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".