The best closers in MLB history: 17. Rollie Fingers
- 341 total saves
- 709 games finished
- 2.73 ERA (as reliever)
- 1981 Cy Young and MVP Award winner
Throughout the history of the MLB, just 11 pitchers have won both the Most Valuable Player Award and Cy Young Award in the same season. There are two of those names on this list. And, to accomplish this feat as a relief pitcher or closer? Incredible.
Rollie Fingers is one of those names. In 1981, while with the Milwaukee Brewers, and in his penultimate professional season, Fingers took home the dual set of hardware. He led all of baseball with 28 saves, finishing 41, all to the tune of a 1.04 ERA and 0.872 WHIP.
Fingers spent the first nine years of his career with the Athletics, who flirted with him becoming a starting pitcher. In total, he started 37 games and this experiment wasn’t highly successful. But, at the back end of a bullpen, Fingers was a whole different story. As a closer, Fingers earned seven All-Star appearances, won three World Series titles, and racked up 341 saves with a 2.73 ERA.
He finished 709 games during his 17-year career, a number that ranks fifth in league history. Fingers also walked less than eight percent of batters he faced and recorded 20-plus saves nine different times in his career. Oh, and how can we forget to mention his epic handlebar mustache. Perhaps, the most defining piece of his aura.
Fingers was elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame in 1992, making him the second relief pitcher to ever accomplish that feat at that time.