PHOENIX -- It took Junior Guerra five years to master a split-fingered fastball, the pitch that carried him from professional leagues in Italy and Spain all the way to the Major Leagues.
Hall of Famer Rollie Fingers learned his in 2 1/2 weeks.
Fingers, the mustachioed reliever who won the 1981 American League Cy Young Award in the first of his five years with the Brewers, was on hand at Maryvale Baseball Park on Wednesday to sign autographs, with proceeds benefiting the Fergie Jenkins Foundation. He spent some time chatting with Brewers manager Craig Counsell about the "split," a popular pitch in these parts because it lifted Guerra to the top of Milwaukee's starting rotation last season as a 31-year-old rookie.