Crazy Trade
Fingers was acquired prior to the 1981 season in a trade that also gave the Brewers Pete Vuckovich, so in one trade, the Brewers picked up the 1981 and 1982 Cy Young winners. Who did the Brewers give up? They gave the Cardinals David Green, Dave LaPoint, Sixto Lezcano, and Lary Sorensen. Oh and the Brewers also received Ted Simmons in this trade. Seems like a crazy trade, but the Cardinals beat the Brewers the next year in the World Series, so it was crazy like a fox.
MVP voting
Fingers was also the league MVP in 1981. Hard to imagine now, considering he really only led the league in saves. I know stat people like to go look at who really should have won the MVP in any given year using new stats derived from using computers, but the reality is, in 1981 voters looked at HRs-RBIs-BA, and for pitchers wins-ERA-saves. The AL Leader in BA was Carney Lansford at .336, RBI was Eddie Murray with 78 and HR was a 4 way tie between Tony Armas, Bobby Grich, Dwight Evans, and Eddie Murray with 22 each. On the pitching side, 4 pitchers led with 14 wins (Steve McCatty, Pete Vuckovich, Jack Morris, and Denny Martinez), ERA was led by Dave Righetti, and saves was led by Rollie Fingers, who led the league in saves by 8 over the next player. I think because he led by 8 is the reason he won the MVP and Cy Young awards that year, as nobody else stood out in any of the major categories.
The reality is, Rickey Henderson should've won this award for leading the league in runs scored and stolen bases and having a high batting average for a team that probably wouldn't have made the playoffs without him.
Starters
| __ | TT | 830 | C | Ted Simmons | MIL |
| __ | TO | 555 | 1B | Cecil Cooper | MIL |
| __ | TO | 482 | 2B | Jim Gantner | MIL |
| __ | TO | 106 | 3B | Don Money | MIL |
| __ | TO | 515 | SS | Robin Yount | MIL |
| __ | TO | 415 | LF | Ben Oglivie | MIL |
| __ | TO | 300 | CF | Paul Molitor | MIL |
| __ | TO | 135 | RF | Gorman Thomas | MIL |
| __ | TO | 215 | DH | Larry Hisle | MIL |
| __ | TT | 773 | 3B | Roy Howell | MIL |
| __ | RF | Mark Brouhard | |||
| __ | TO | 237 | C | Charlie Moore | MIL |
Starting Pitchers
| __ | TT | 851 | SP | Pete Vuckovich | MIL |
| __ | TO | 85 | SP | Mike Caldwell | MIL |
| __ | TO | 327 | SP | Moose Haas | MIL |
| __ | TO | 357 | SP | Jim Slaton | MIL |
| __ | TT | 792 | SP | Randy Lerch | MIL |
Relief Pitchers
| __ | TT | 761 | CL | Rollie Fingers | MIL |
| __ | RP | Jamie Easterly | |||
| __ | TO | 596 | RP | Jerry Augustine | MIL |
| __ | TO | 576 | RP | Reggie Cleveland | MIL |
| __ | RP | Rickey Keeton |
Other Players
| __ | OF | Thad Bosley | |||
| __ | MI | Ed Romero | |||
| __ | TO | 623 | UT | Sal Bando | MIL |
| __ | OF | Marshall Edwards | |||
| __ | C | Ned Yost | |||
| __ | TO | 156 | RP | Bob McClure | MIL |
| __ | RP | Dwight Bernard | |||
| __ | RP | Chuck Porter | |||
| __ | RP | Donnie Moore | |||
| __ | RP | Frank DiPino | |||
| __ | RP | Willie Mueller |
Manager/Coaches
| __ | DO | 327 | MG | Buck Rodgers | MIL |
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