Rollie Fingers Put a Face on Bringing Closure.

Reliever earned his way to Cooperstown with many innings, appearances and saves for Athletics, Padres and Brewers

WITH A TWIRL OR A STROKE OF that Snidely Whiplash mustache--the trademark of one of only two relief pitchers in Cooperstown--Rollie Fingers watches baseball games today with a sense of bemused wonder over how he ever did it alone.

Sort of like a man who built a successful, business with his own two hands, then turned it over to a corporation.

"Now you've got the long reliever, the middle man, the set-up man, the short man, the stopper, whatever you want to call it, guys who just pitch one inning at a time," says Fingers. "I came in with Gaylord (Perry) winning by a run and saved 14 of his 15 games. I was pitching four of five innings sometimes. There was no such thing as a set-up man. I was my own set-up man."

More often than not, alas, Fingers was set up for failure. Given the way the San Diego Padres played during his 1977-1980 tenure--when their performances were nearly as much an eyesore as their uniforms--Fingers' 34-40 won-lost record is darned admirable.

But wins and losses had little to do with the legend and legacy of Rollie Fingers, nothing at all to do with his presence in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Fingers was one of the first pitchers ever adjudged by anything but W's and Us and earned run average--though his 16-year ERA was 2.90--he was the first reliever to save 300 games and ended his career with 341.

Hoyt Wilhelm came before him, but no pitcher since has been honored for his relief work as Fingers, whose frequent appearances and ability to finish what somebody else started forced baseball to come up with the whole new category. The Save.