Batter up!

A SWING AND A MISS!

Rollie Fingers was the Baseball Player.

Learned Hand was the Federal Judge.

Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers, officially Roland Glen Fingers, is regarded as the pioneer of modern relief pitching. During his 17-year baseball career, Fingers pitched for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Milwaukee Brewers. Fingers excelled as a closer for the Athletics, and helped the team accomplish the first modern-day “three-peat”: the Athletics won the World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974. Fingers won the World Series MVP Award in 1974. With his sharp slider, Fingers finished his career with 341 saves, a record that stood until 1992 (broken by the Red Sox’s Jeff Reardon). In regards to his famous mustache, Fingers originally grew it in response to a cash incentive by Athletics owner Charles Finley. Finley promised $300 to the player who could best grow and maintain his facial hair until one of the Opening Days. A few years later, Finley would sue the Baseball Commissioner for restraint of trade: The Commissioner had prohibited the sale of Fingers, Joe Rudi, and Vida Blue to other teams, reasoning that the deal would not be in the best interests of baseball. Finley lost the suit. As for Fingers, the Cincinnati Reds’ uniform would have been the final one on his back, but he declined their offer because of a team rule against facial hair. In 1992, Fingers was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After retiring from baseball, Fingers tried his hand at golf, finishing as high as third in the Celebrity Golf Tour. Perhaps more importantly, however, is that his mustache remains to this day.

Learned Hand

After studying philosophy and law at Harvard University, Billings Learned Hand practiced law in Albany and New York City. In 1909, President William Howard Taft appointed Hand as a federal district judge in New York. At age 37, Hand became one of the youngest appointees in U.S history. 15 years later, he rose to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, enabling him to sit alongside his cousin, Augustus Noble Hand. Learned Hand had a record tenure as a federal judge lasting 52 years. Although he never sat on the Supreme Court of the United States, some consider him a greater judge than all but a few of the high court Justices. On the third occasion that a president considered Hand for a Supreme Court position, President Roosevelt had insisted that justices should not serve past age 70, and Hand was 71. In 1943, Roosevelt appointed the 48-year-old Wiley B. Rutledge instead. “Ironically, Rutledge died in 1949, whereas Hand was still active and productive for another twelve years.” Hand’s written court opinions, nonetheless, strongly influenced the high court. The Justices often quoted Hand in their opinions, and legal journals often cited him. Hand also served on the council of the American Law Institute, a group of law professors, judges, and lawyers who organize and summarize in the law in publications called the “Restatements of the Law” and “Model Codes.” In his court decisions, “Hand showed an ability to clarify legal concepts, even those in specialized areas such as admiralty law, patent law, and immigration law.” Even after his retirement, he continued to sit on the federal bench. During this time, he typically wrote 20 to 25 opinions a month, instead of his customary 50 to 60—and he complained to a friend that this new number was not enough.

CONTINUE WITH QUIZ

CORRECT!

Rollie Fingers

Rollie Fingers, officially Roland Glen Fingers, is regarded as the pioneer of modern relief pitching. During his 17-year baseball career, Fingers pitched for the Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, and Milwaukee Brewers. Fingers excelled as a closer for the Athletics, and helped the team accomplish the first modern-day “three-peat”: the Athletics won the World Series in 1972, 1973 and 1974. Fingers won the World Series MVP Award in 1974. With his sharp slider, Fingers finished his career with 341 saves, a record that stood until 1992 (broken by the Red Sox’s Jeff Reardon). In regards to his famous mustache, Fingers originally grew it in response to a cash incentive by Athletics owner Charles Finley. Finley promised $300 to the player who could best grow and maintain his facial hair until one of the Opening Days. A few years later, Finley would sue the Baseball Commissioner for restraint of trade: The Commissioner had prohibited the sale of Fingers, Joe Rudi, and Vida Blue to other teams, reasoning that the deal would not be in the best interests of baseball. Finley lost the suit. As for Fingers, the Cincinnati Reds’ uniform would have been the final one on his back, but he declined their offer because of a team rule against facial hair. In 1992, Fingers was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After retiring from baseball, Fingers tried his hand at golf, finishing as high as third in the Celebrity Golf Tour. Perhaps more importantly, however, is that his mustache remains to this day.

Learned Hand

After studying philosophy and law at Harvard University, Billings Learned Hand practiced law in Albany and New York City. In 1909, President William Howard Taft appointed Hand as a federal district judge in New York. At age 37, Hand became one of the youngest appointees in U.S history. 15 years later, he rose to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, enabling him to sit alongside his cousin, Augustus Noble Hand. Learned Hand had a record tenure as a federal judge lasting 52 years. Although he never sat on the Supreme Court of the United States, some consider him a greater judge than all but a few of the high court Justices. On the third occasion that a president considered Hand for a Supreme Court position, President Roosevelt had insisted that justices should not serve past age 70, and Hand was 71. In 1943, Roosevelt appointed the 48-year-old Wiley B. Rutledge instead. “Ironically, Rutledge died in 1949, whereas Hand was still active and productive for another twelve years.” Hand’s written court opinions, nonetheless, strongly influenced the high court. The Justices often quoted Hand in their opinions, and legal journals often cited him. Hand also served on the council of the American Law Institute, a group of law professors, judges, and lawyers who organize and summarize in the law in publications called the “Restatements of the Law” and “Model Codes.” In his court decisions, “Hand showed an ability to clarify legal concepts, even those in specialized areas such as admiralty law, patent law, and immigration law.” Even after his retirement, he continued to sit on the federal bench. During this time, he typically wrote 20 to 25 opinions a month, instead of his customary 50 to 60—and he complained to a friend that this new number was not enough.

CONTINUE WITH QUIZ