Inducted 1992. American League Rookie of the Year in 1954, Two-Time All-Star. Class of 1946.
James “Jim” Finigan graduated from Notre Dame in 1946. During his high school career Jim received nine varsity letters, three each in football, basketball, and baseball.
Jim attended St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa on a baseball scholarship in 1947 and 1948. In 1949 he signed a professional baseball contract with the New York Yankees. Jim spent 1950 and 1951 in the army and then was traded to the Philadelphia A’s in December 1953. During his major league career Jim also played for Kansas City, Detroit, Baltimore, and San Francisco.
Jim was runner-up American League Rookie of the Year in 1954 and he was named to the America League All-Star Team in 1954 and 1955.
After his professional career Jim went back to college and graduated from Quincy College in 1963. He sold advertising for the Catholic Monthly Missal for numerous years and then returned to baseball as head coach and manager of the Quincy Rivermen and then became head coach for Quincy College.
Jim died unexpectedly May 16, 1981.
Jim’s ties to Quincy Notre Dame go deeper than athletics, as his wife, Peggy, taught Spanish at Notre Dame for more than 20 years. Together they have continued to exemplify a passion for life that will have a lasting effect on the Quincy Notre Dame family.