As much as baseball is about celebrating the great competition of the moment, it’s about remembering those who’ve played before. Former Padre and Oakland A’s pitcher Rollie Fingers is a Hall of Famer whose trademark moustache is hard to miss. His story is memorable, as well.
I first interviewed him in 1998 and paired his story with Randy Jones. We were featuring two Padres Greats with the show airing just as the Padres and the Channel 4 San Diego team were heading in to the very exciting post season.
As we were planning this new Legends edition of One on One it was a natural to re-visit both Randy and Rollies’ stories. Their interviews were so interesting and compelling; the decision was easy to give them each a half hour program.
Rollie lives in Las Vegas now, but he was going to be in Palm Desert for the Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational. Photographer/Editor Dan Roper and I met him a day early at the private BIGHORN Golf Club www.BIGHORNGOLF.COM where he would be golfing with guests from the University of Nebraska.* It was a beautiful setting to see him in his post-baseball element. Helping to coordinate the shoot was Alan Skuba, Director of Member Relations at BIGHORN. Alan was the Mayor of Escondido from 1968-1976, owned a few radio stations, and knows some of the older San Diego broadcasters and Padres folks from his work and involvement in the community. He had watched my show over years and (thankfully!) enjoyed it, and was very accommodating so we could connect with Rollie that day.
Rollie was as friendly and easy-going as I remembered him from 1998, from Cooperstown (when we were there for Dave Winfield, Jerry Coleman and Tony Gwynn) and from seeing him (and taking some pictures) at the Drew Brees/COX Celebrity Golf Tournament in 2011. He is a very humble man and seemed grateful we wanted to re-visit his story then and now. I appreciate how he, a Hall of Famer, respects the TV story-telling process, and responded with answers to my follow-up questions or request for pictures. (By the way, he’s also in the montage of players on my book cover!)
It might not come through television the same as sitting there with him, but I could hear his voice crack, see a little lump in his throat and that he was a little teary eyed when he talked about living his dream. It is subtle but beautiful emotion coming from someone who, like a lot of kids, imagined playing in the World Series, and might not have had he not listened to a scout who saw something in him and had a manager, Dick Williams, who handed him the ball every day and kept him in the game. Good stories. Good memories. Good man. Enjoy the show.
*side note: One of the people at BIGHORN with the University of Nebraska group was none other than former Chargers Head Coach Mike Riley! He wasn’t playing in that group, but Alan made sure I saw him so we could say hello. It’s been more than a decade since we featured him One on One. He was friendly and down to earth as ever.
One on One with Jane Mitchell: Legend Rollie Fingers
Life story of Rollie Fingers known for his trademark moustache and Hall of Fame pitching career, including golf, charity and emotional baseball memories.