Fingers was wrapping up a third straight world championship with the A’s in 1974, while also putting together yet another All-Star campaign, leading the AL in appearances with 76, while posting a record of 9-5 with 18 saves over 119 innings pitched.
It’s amazing to think his best years were still ahead of him, as he’d go on to San Diego and Milwaukee, where he’d lead his league in saves three times, while taking 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.
