rollie fingers is in my hall of famer collection

i would guess that many people, when asked about rollie fingers, quickly think of the mustache.  for me, it's that and then pac-man elbow. my first awareness of the man and the 'stache came courtesy of his 1978 topps card.  that's why i am super excited that his entry in my hall of famer collection is this card:

that's a 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback card, numbered 1/3.  here's the back:

i have a 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures card of fingers that i pulled from a pack that had originally been in the collection, but when i saw this beauty, i pounced.  truth be told, any autographed card of fingers would have worked, as i remember him as a padre and a brewer, and also think of him as a member of the a's thanks to my brief dalliance with a's fandom during the height of 'billy ball'.  

during that time, i began collecting topps a's cards back to 1965 (thanks to another favorite, jim hunter).  as a result, i eventually had a full run of fingers' topps cards through 1982. that included his 1969 rookie card (no mustache!) which was the first or second vintage (eventual) hall of famer rookie card i owned. fast forward to the fall of 1984, my freshman year in high school. a neighborhood friend who i used to ride bikes to the local card shop with tells me about a teacher at his high school that collected cards.  my friend told his teacher about me and that i had a good collection, and so his teacher offered to buy some cards from me. 

i packaged up some cards that i thought the guy would be interested in buying, including my rollie fingers collection, and sent them with my friend. a week or two later, he gave me some of my cards back - no fingers rookie - but claimed that the teacher didn't take any so he didn't have any cash for me. that may well have been the last time that i ever saw or talked to that friend. oh well, he had given me his small collection back in 1980 when he moved out of my neighborhood, which i remember included a few eddie murray second year cards.

as for fingers, i remember feeling some solidarity with him when he was injured during the 1982 season. i swear that it was reported as 'pac-man elbow', but in writing this post i could find no reference to that diagnosis. maybe my dad made a joke at the time, since my brother and i were always playing pac-man at home on our atari 800.  either way, i've known rollie fingers was a cool dude for a long time.

here's my hall of famer collection as its been documented so far:

babe ruth - 2003 topps tribute world series edition world series tribute relic 351/425

honus wagner - 2001 topps tribute relics

bob feller - 2001 topps archives

jackie robinson - 2004 topps clubhouse collection clubhouse relics

roberto clemente - 2005 donruss greats hall of fame souvenirs relic

warren spahn - 1999 upper deck century legends epic signatures

mickey mantle - 2000 upper deck legends legendary game jerseys relic

willie mays - 1997 topps willie mays reprints autograph

al kaline - 2001 fleer greats of the game autographs

duke snider - 2003 upper deck sp authentic chirography hall of famers 144/250

hank aaron - 2004 topps originals 1979 topps all-time record holders rbi 03/32

harmon killebrew - 2000 upper deck legends legendary signatures

rollie fingers - 2018 topps archives signature series 1978 topps buyback 1/3

reggie jackson - 2018 topps tier one tier one talent autographs 19/60

steve carlton - 2018 topps five star career year autographs

mike schmidt - 2002 topps archives autoproof 1980 topps buyback

bruce sutter - 2003 topps all-time fan favorites

jim rice - 2005 upper deck past time pennants

pete rose* - 2018 panini flawless legendary signatures 15/25

barry bonds* - 2001 bowman heritage autographs

you can find the full list of hall of famers (and some not - yet) that i aim to include in this collection at my want list site.

*not currently a member of the hall of fame