This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/28/2013
Conventional baseball wisdom has long held that relief pitchers faced rather imposing hurdles when it
came time for voting on the Cy Young Award, an understandable bit of discrimination that led to the
creation of separate awards for those late-inning specialists. But challenging for the prestigious Cy Young
Award still remained an option, and through the years a handful have managed it. But it’s a pretty exclusive
club, numbering only nine members, coincidentally the same number of pitchers who have won both the
Cy Young and the MVP Award in the same season. Rollie Fingers parlayed a remarkable 1981 campaign at
age 35 into membership in both noble groups. Returning to the American League after his four-year stint
in San Diego, Fingers joined the Milwaukee Brewers in that historic and irksome 1981 season bedeviled by
labor wrangles and a truncated schedule. The unflappable Fingers weathered that storm handily, turning in
arguably his finest campaign with a microscopic ERA of 1.06 and 28 saves in a shortened season.
This iconic award consists of a visually striking, silver-plated design mounted on a black-lacquered wooden
plaque measuring 13 1/2-by-16 inches. The centerpiece of the near 11-pound award is a lifelike sculpted
pitcher’s hand sprouting from the mound of a baseball diamond and clutching a ball with a two-fingered
grip. Relief lettering above and below reads, “CY YOUNG AWARD” and “PRESENTED TO ROLLIE FINGERS
- MOST VALUABLE PITCHER - AMERICAN LEAGUE.” The design elements and the plaque backing are
extremely well preserved and highly presentable; there is one tiny, barely visible “x” scratch on the black
wood board and little or no scuffing on the edges of the board. Fingers has signed in bold silver Sharpie on
the back of the plaque, adding the inscription “1981 Cy Young Award.” One of the finest individual baseball
awards of the modern-era ever presented at public auction.
Comes with a LOA Rollie Fingers.
Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.