The next Oakland A's, or should I say, "FORMER" Oakland A's player to have his 1977 card re-done is Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers, who was originally shown airbrushed into a San Diego Padres uniform, a shock to us young kids everywhere:
For those who need a refresher on the original Topps card, here you go:
Of
course, as we all know, Oakland lost their stable of champion players
to Free Agency, and Fingers was one of them, leaving behind the madness,
albeit three-time champion Oakland franchise, heading South along with
teammate Gene Tenace, to the Padres.
The
man would NOT disappoint, leading the National League in saves both in
1977 and 1978, averaging about 100 innings a year solely out of the
bullpen, posting sub-3.00 ERA's three of his four years as a Padre.
Yet, it’s amazing to think his best year was still ahead of him, as he’d go
on to Milwaukee, where he’d take home the AL MVP and Cy Young in 1981 when he
led the Brewers to the playoffs with a remarkable 1.04 ERA and a
league-leading 28 saves during the strike-shortened season.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season after some injury-plagued years, he was at the top of the career saves list with 341, while posting a very nice 2.90 ERA over 944 appearances and 1701 innings pitched in 17-seasons.
In 1992, in what was his second year of eligibility, he was selected for the Hall of Fame with 81.2% of the vote, making him only the second career-reliever to be so honored, following the great Hoyt Wilhelm who was selected for induction in 1985.
By the time he retired after the 1985 season after some injury-plagued years, he was at the top of the career saves list with 341, while posting a very nice 2.90 ERA over 944 appearances and 1701 innings pitched in 17-seasons.
In 1992, in what was his second year of eligibility, he was selected for the Hall of Fame with 81.2% of the vote, making him only the second career-reliever to be so honored, following the great Hoyt Wilhelm who was selected for induction in 1985.