Sal Bando

Salvatore Leonard Bando (born February 13, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player and general manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a third baseman from to , most prominently as the team captain for the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships between 1972 and 1974.

A four-time All-Star player, Bando averaged 23 home runs and 90 runs batted in over an eight-year span. Although he was often overshadowed by his contemporary, Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, Bando finished second, third, and fourth in the American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award voting from 1971 to 1974. He ended his playing career with the Milwaukee Brewers.

After his playing career, Bando served as a special assistant with the Brewers before serving as the team's General Manager from October 1991 until August 1999. He was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2013 and, in 2022 Bando was inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame.

Baseball career

Bando played college baseball at Arizona State University for coach Bobby Winkles. During the " Swingin' A's" era of 1971-75, Bando captained the team and led the club in runs batted in three times. He was the second American League third baseman to hit 200 career home runs, joining Brooks Robinson, and retired among the all-time leaders in games (5th, 1896), assists (6th, 3720) and double plays (7th, 345) at his position. In a 16-season career, Bando was a .254 hitter with 242 home runs and 1039 RBI in 2019 games played. His younger brother Chris was a catcher for the Cleveland Indians.

Over four consecutive American League Championship Series from 1971–74, he hit five home runs in 17 games, including two in Game 2 of the 1973 ALCS game and a solo shot in Game 3 of the 1974 ALCS, a 1-0 victory.

Playing almost exclusively at third base in Oakland, Bando played every infield position while with the Brewers, even making one appearance as a relief pitcher in a 1979 game.

Post-playing career

After retiring, Bando briefly served as a color analyst for NBC (teaming with Bob Costas on telecasts), then became a front office executive with the Brewers. He was named the team's general manager on October 8, .

Bando built only one winning team in over seven years as GM. That team, the 1992 Brewers, was largely composed of players he inherited from his predecessor Harry Dalton. They ended the season with 92 wins and 70 losses under the only manager Bando ever hired in his tenure as GM, Phil Garner, his former teammate in Oakland.

One of the lowlights of his tenure happened after that 1992 season when the club did not offer Paul Molitor salary arbitration until the 11th hour. Molitor signed a free-agent deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. At the time, Bando was quoted as disparaging Molitor as "only a (designated hitter)". The following season, Molitor was named the World Series MVP as the Blue Jays won their second championship. This was noted by some as one of the worst public relations blunders in Brewers history, although Bando has since claimed that his words were taken out of context. Bando held his position as GM until August 12, , resigning the position after manager Phil Garner was fired. Bando was replaced by former Atlanta Braves assistant GM Dean Taylor.

Bando did a voice cameo in the 2006 episode of ''The Simpsons'' titled "Regarding Margie."

Currently, Bando is CEO of The Middleton Doll Company, a Columbus, Ohio, enterprise with multiple other businesses associated with it. Both he and Jon McGlocklin established the firm which was originally the Bando McGlocklin Capital Corporation in 1979. The name changed to its current form on May 4, 2001 to reflect its acquisition of Lee Middleton Original Dolls Inc. He is also a Catholic and involved in some Catholic organizations.

Bando's son, Sal Bando, Jr., was the head baseball coach at High Point University from 2001 to 2008. Since 2010 Bando Jr. has been the head baseball coach at Marquette University High School, leading the team to two straight state championship appearances in his first two season there.

See also

*Charles O. Finley
* List of Major League Baseball career home run leaders
* List of Major League Baseball career runs batted in leaders
* List of Major League Baseball annual doubles leaders

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bando, Sal
1944 births
Living people
American chief executives
American League All-Stars
Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players
Baseball players from Cleveland
Birmingham Barons players
College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners
Kansas City Athletics players
Major League Baseball broadcasters
Major League Baseball executives
Major League Baseball general managers
Major League Baseball third basemen
Milwaukee Brewers executives
Milwaukee Brewers players
Mobile A's players
Oakland Athletics players
National College Baseball Hall of Fame inductees