Jan. 5, 2011

Rollie Fingers headlines DWU banquet

Luke Hagen • The Daily Republic

Click here to register online for the banquet.

Major League Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Rollie Fingers will be at a Dakota Wesleyan baseball banquet in February.

The annual Leadership Banquet is being held Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. in the Sherman Center on the Dakota Wesleyan University campus.

Former U.S. senator and DWU alumnus George McGovern will also speak at the event, which will include a dinner.

Fingers was a right-handed relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers from 1968 to 1985. He is most recognized by his handlebar mustache.

Fingers appeared in 16 World Series games and won the American League Most Valuable Player award and the A.L. Cy Young award, which is given to each league’s top pitcher. Both awards came in 1981.

In 17 major league seasons, he had a 2.90 earned run average and 1,299 strikeouts. He was inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992.

“Rollie Fingers is probably one of the most recognizable figures in baseball with his handlebar mustache,” DWU baseball coach Steve Gust said. “What he did on the field is second to none. He personified the relief pitcher and to get a guy of his caliber is good for the community of Mitchell.”

Gust said Don Simmons — the dean of the Leadership and Public Service program at DWU — knew someone in California who knew Fingers.

“I talked to Don about getting someone at this event and not 15 minutes later he had Rollie Fingers,” Gust said.

Last year, former Minnesota Twins coach and player Al Newman spoke at the same event.

Tickets are on sale for $50 and can be purchased online at mcgoverncenter.com or dwu.edu/athletics/baseball. Gust said 300 tickets are being sold.

“All of the money that’s raised will stay with the Wesleyan baseball program,” Gust said.