On this day in 1981, Rollie Fingers became the first Brewer ever to win an AL Cy Young Award. Fingers had an incredible season in the strike-shortened year, posting a 1.04 ERA over 78 innings in 47 appearances and leading the American League with 28 saves. This was the fourth time Fingers had received votes in the Cy Young balloting, but the only time he finished above third.
It's usually pretty tough to qualify for the Cy Young as a reliever, but you can make a strong case that Fingers really deserved the award. The only AL pitcher who accumulated more than Fingers' 4.1 rWAR was A's righty Steve McCatty, who finished with 4.2. Fingers was listed in the #1 spot on 22 of the 28 ballots.
Pete Vuckovich finished fourth in the voting that season, but one year to the day later he claimed his place in history alongside Fingers. On this day in 1982 Vuckovich gave the Brewers back-to-back awards, picking up 14 of 28 first place votes and beating out Jim Palmer of the Orioles, Dan Quisenberry of the Royals and Dave Stieb of the Blue Jays.
Vuckovich completed nine of his 30 starts in 1982, winning 18 games and posting a 3.34 ERA.
Fingers and Vuckovich are the only Brewer Cy Young Award winners in franchise history.
With help from Brewerfan.net, happy birthday today to Nashville Sound Daniel Meadows. He turns 24.