(Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
Even the oft-ridiculed Brett Tomko pitched a scoreless inning and got the win.
A few weeks ago I was watching a baseball game and I was flipping back and forth between the game and the MLB Network, which had highlights of the 1972 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Oakland A's.
Every time I flipped to the World Series highlights, Rollie Fingers was on the mound pitching. I thought that Fingers couldn't have pitched that much. However, in checking the records I saw that Fingers pitched in six of the seven games, with a 1-1 record, a hold, two saves and a blown hold. He threw back to back once, and three straight days another part of the series.
What was truly amazing is not how much Fingers pitched, but when he came into the game. He entered Game One in the sixth inning (1.2 IP), Game Two in the ninth (.1 IP), Game Three in the eighth (1.2 IP), Game Four in the ninth (1.0 IP), Game Five in the fifth (3.2 IP) and Game Seven in the eighth (2.0 IP).
It did not matter to the A's manager Dick Williams when he brought in his best reliever. Get the big outs when you need them.
The role he was brought into apparently did not matter to Fingers either as I could not find any evidence of him griping that he was the closer and no evidence of any media member trying to create a story about it. It should be pointed out that Fingers threw all those innings and games while he was only 25 years old!
His arm did not fall off and all those appearances did not short-circuit a Hall of Fame career.
Fingers pitched when he was called upon and has that 1972 World Series Ring on his left hand.
Similar to the one Bruney might have on his hand come October.
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