For 14 seasons, with good, average and bad teams, Chuck Finley took the ball for the Angels and made good things happen. In terms of giving customers their money's worth, he was as dependable as they came.
Finley, a 6-foot-6 lefty with a mid-90s fastball and lethal split-fingered fastball, threw 2,675 innings in an Angels uniform, winning 165 games. Right behind him, with 2,181 1/3 innings and 138 wins, is Nolan Ryan.
Retiring in 2002, Finley is making his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot dispensed to voting members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Finley's career lasted 17 seasons, and he ranks 23rd all-time in strikeouts with 2,610.
At his five-year peak -- from 1989 through 1993 -- he was among the elite pitchers in the game. In his 1992 edition of The Baseball Book, Bill James ranked Finley second among all American League starters, behind Roger Clemens. Finley was 16-9 with a 2.57 ERA in 1989, 18-9 with a 2.40 ERA in 1990. He went 18-9 again in 1991, meaning he was 36-18 over a two-year period with teams that finished two games below .500.
Finley made it to the postseason as a 23-year-old rookie with the Angels in 1986, appearing in three games of the American League Championship Series against Boston and holding the Red Sox scoreless with one hit in two innings. He didn't return to the postseason until 2001, after moving to Cleveland as a free agent in 2000. Dealt to St. Louis in July 2002, Finley finished his career in style, beating the Giants in Game 3 of the NLCS that year in San Francisco in his final Major League appearance.
The big man from the Bayou with that big smile and easy going manner finished his career with a 200-173 record. He notched his 2,610 strikeouts in 3,197 1/3 innings, fashioning a 3.85 ERA. Those overall numbers are comparable to those of Hall of Famer Jesse Hanes, who was 210-158 with a 3.64 career ERA.
Five times Finley finished in the top 10 in the AL in ERA, and three times he was in the top five. Reflecting a consistency that made him a leader on any staff he graced, Finley won at least 15 games seven times, reaching double figures 12 times across 14 seasons starting in 1989. The Angels struggled through the '90s, but in 1997 they put it together and appeared capable of challenging Seattle in the AL West. But Finley broke his left wrist backing up home plate on a routine play, his season-ending injury a critical blow for the Angels as they finished second. He struck out a career-high 215 batters in 238 innings in 1996, yet his record was 15-16. Two years later, he racked up 212 strikeouts with a 3.39 ERA -- and finished 11-9 in 34 starts.
After the Angels released Finley, he was signed by the Indians to play for the 2000 season. He went 16-11 with a 4.17 ERA. He went 8-7 with a 5.54 era for the Indians in 2001, and then in 2002 went 4-11 with a 4.44 ERA in 18 games before being traded to the Cardinals for former Indians and now Red Sox player Covelli "Coco" Crisp.
He is the only pitcher to strike out four hitters in the same inning more than once, something he accomplished three times in the span of one year -- May 12, 1999 to April 16, 2000.
Finley was selected by the Angels in the 15th round of the 1984 Draft out of Northeast Louisiana University, but he did not sign. The Angels chose him again in the 1st round of the secondary phase of the 1985 Draft.
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