If you grew up in the 70s and watched baseball on television as I did, chances are you remember who Rollie Fingers is. He was memorable for several things, but as a child, I remembered just two – his odd name and his mustache. He had one of those funny handlebar mustaches that curl up on each end.
He was also a great pitcher, which I can now recognize as an adult. He was in the major leagues for 17 years and used first as a reliever (a pitcher who comes in after the starting pitcher is either hurt, tired, or giving up a lot of hits) then a closer (the pitcher who finishes the last inning very strongly to win the game for the team). He was a reliever with the Oakland A’s when they won three World Series titles in 1972, 1973, and 1974 and won the World Series MVP Award in 1974. He was the Rolaids Relief Man of the Year for 1977, 1978, 1980, and 1981. Although he was in pain much of the season, he won an amazing 29 saves (saves the game for the team with his pitching) for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1981. That helped him win both the American League MVP and the Cy Young Award. Rollie was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.
So you are probably wondering why I am bringing Rollie up now. Well, apparently he did not read my blogs on Richard Hatch or Wesley Snipes because now Rollie is added to the growing number of celebs (or in the case of Richard Hatch “pseudo-celebs”) who owes the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) money. He owes the state of Wisconsin over $1.4 million in income taxes, making him the seventh biggest tax delinquent in that state. The IRS would not confirm that the Roland G. Fingers (Rollie’s real name) wanted for tax evasion was indeed the former baseball star, but CNN says the paperwork lists Rollie’s address in Las Vegas and his birth date.
It seems hard to believe there would be two Roland G. Fingers in the world, so I hope Rollie gets this straightened up and does not tarnish his wonderful baseball record.