Jenkins, Fingers 'still fit' their legendary status in baseball

Participate in Greatest Save charity game at Bosse Field

By Gordon Engelhardt

Posted September 7, 2013 at 5:50 p.m.

Ferguson Jenkins volunteered to be interviewed first when approached at Bosse Field before The Greatest Save Hall of Fame Legends Baseball Game on Saturday. After all, he was the starter and Rollie Fingers the reliever during their playing days.

Wearing his Chicago Cubs uniform, Jenkins was unable to participate because he had a knee replacement nine weeks ago. But he loved putting on the uniform.

“It still fits,” said Jenkins, 70.

Photo by Daniel R Patmore

Photographs by DANIEL R. PATMORE / SPECIAL TO EVANSVILLE COURIER & PRESS Tami Speth takes a picture of her eight year-old son, Payton, with Baseball Hall of Famers Ferguson Jenkins, Rollie Fingers and Doug Sebastian before a charity baseball game at Bosse Field on Saturday afternoon.

Photo by Daniel R Patmore

Baseball Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers and Ferguson Jenkins joke around behind the batting cage before a charity baseball game at Bosse Field on Saturday afternoon.

Photo by Daniel R Patmore

DANIEL R. PATMORE / SPECIAL TO EVANSVILLE COURIER & PRESS Baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers signs his autograph for Jo Temple, of Newburgh, before the charity baseball game at Bosse Field on Saturday afternoon.

Photo by Daniel R Patmore

DANIEL R. PATMORE / SPECIAL TO EVANSVILLE COURIER & PRESS Baseball Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins autographs a T-shirt for Sam Englert of Ferdinand as his grandfather Larry Hamilton also from Ferdinand looks on before the charity baseball game at Bosse Field on Saturday afternoon.

Photo by Daniel R Patmore

DANIEL R. PATMORE / SPECIAL TO EVANSVILLE COURIER & PRESS Baseball Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers autographs a magazine cover for Mark Marshall of Ft. Branch before the charity baseball game at Bosse Field on Saturday afternoon.

He won 20 or more games in six successive seasons between 1967 and ’72 for the Cubs.

“That’s pretty significant,” Jenkins said. “But you can’t win without runs and defense.”

Like Jenkins, Fingers was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was only the second reliever to join the Hall, after Hoyt Wilhelm.

Wearing his yellow, green and white Oakland A’s uniform, Fingers posed for photographs and signed autographs alongside Jenkins before the Greatest Save charity game. Former Cub Paul Noce was the MVP in the National League’s 7-5 victory over the American League.

Fingers, who was the losing pitcher, was proud to be the national spokesman for the KinderVision Foundation, which raises awareness and provides funding for educational resources to protect children and teens from exploitation, molestation and abduction.

“It all started in (Oceanside, Calif.) when a group of kids abducted and murdered Leticia Hernandez (in 1989),” he said.

Fingers educated his own kids what to do in a situation where a predator might be present.

“Never go with somebody you don’t know,” he said. “Always be with friends. Nowadays, so many guys prey on kids. You read about it every day, that someone got kidnapped or murdered.”

Now 67, Fingers is known as much for his handlebar mustache as his career, in which he helped the Oakland A’s win consecutive World Series titles in 1972, ’73 and ’74. Oakland A’s owner Charles O. Finley gave Fingers a $300 bonus to grow his mustache in the spring of 1972. Other A’s also started sprouting facial hair. After they won the World Series, they had no reason to shave.

On several occasions through the years, people have come up to Fingers and said: “That mustache is just like Rollie Fingers’.”

But they didn’t realize it was him.

“They recognize the mustache,” Fingers said. “They don’t care whose face it is.”

When Fingers joined the majors, the bullpen consisted of pitchers who couldn’t get the job done as starters.

“It was nice to be a part of a change in baseball,” Fingers said. “When I came up (in 1968), a starter was expected to go nine innings.”

Boots Day, who played six years in the majors and was a Cubs teammate of Jenkins in 1970, said he was not overpowering, despite his career strikeout total (3,192).

“He had great control of all his pitches,” said Day, the Evansville Otters’ 66-year-old hitting coach, who recently won Frontier League Coach of the Year honors. “He was not overpoweringly fast. He could pitch on both sides of the plate.”

Jenkins, who posted an overall record of 284-226, said his greatest regret was never reaching postseason in his 18-year career.