Mason Miller Has Quick Chat With Hall of Fame Closer Rollie Fingers
Oakland A's closer Mason Miller is having quite the season. The 25-year-old right-hander holds a 2.08 ERA with a 0.81 WHIP and has struck out 46.5% of the hitters he's faced. On Sunday afternoon, the A's hosted a celebration of the 1974 World Series team, with a number of the players from that squad on hand. One of those players was Hall of Fame closer Rollie Fingers.
In a nice touch to the pregame festivities, Fingers tossed out the ceremonial first pitch, and there to catch it was Miller. The two exchanged a few words before parting.
After the game, we asked Miller what they discussed.
"I asked him what the key [to closing] was, and he said 'throw strikes.'" The only flaw in Miller's game may be his walk rate, which sits at 10.1% and ranks in the 25th percentile among pitchers. Given that he ranks in the 100th percentile (meaning he's the best) in six different categories on Baseball Savant, like fastball velo, expected ERA (1.51), whiff%, and chase%, it's a little easier to overlook the occasional walk. He does have a WHIP well below one after all.
"We talked about how the Coliseum has changed, and he was talking about in the dugout how 'I had this when I was here.' That was a cool, cool moment. Having him seeing what I'm doing, obviously for me just as a baseball fan, to have that moment, and for him to give me that ball is pretty awesome."
While Rollie Fingers is considered a closer, he was routinely racking up well over 100 innings each and every year. From 1969 to 1978 he saved 208 games, threw 1,254 1/3 innings, held a 2.86 ERA, and was selected to five All Star games.
At last year's reunion, Reggie Jackson said that with the way closers are used in today's game that "Rollie could still be pitching today."
Just a couple of years after his streak of ten straight 100+ inning season was snapped, in 1981, Fingers earned both the NL CY Young and NL MVP awards as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers. He held a 1.04 ERA that year with a 0.872 WHIP and recorded a season-high 28 saves. He was also the MVP of the World Series that the A's were celebrating on Sunday.
JASON BURKE
Jason is the host of the Locked on A's podcast, and the managing editor of Inside the A's. He's a new father and can't wait to take his son to his first baseball game at the Coliseum.