Sal Bando

Salvatore Leonard Bando (born February 13, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player and executive.[1] He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball between 1966 and 1981, and was an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships between 1972 and 1974.[1] He ended his playing career with the Milwaukee Brewers. Bando played college baseball at Arizona State University for coach Bobby Winkles.

Sal Bando
Third baseman
Born: (1944-02-13) February 13, 1944
Cleveland, Ohio
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 3, 1966, for the Kansas City Athletics
Last MLB appearance
October 3, 1981, for the Milwaukee Brewers
MLB statistics
Batting average.254
Home runs242
Runs batted in1,039
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Baseball career
1970 Oakland Athletics #6 Sal Bando Game Worn Jersey

During the A's championship years of 1971-75, he 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[2] on telecasts), then became a front office executive with the Brewers. He was named the team's general manager on October 8, 1991.

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, 1999, resigning the position after manager Phil Garner was fired. Bando was replaced by former Atlanta Braves assistant GM Dean Taylor.[3]

Bando did a voice cameo in the 2006 episode of The Simpsons titled "Regarding Margie."[4]

Currently, Bando is CEO of Middleton Doll Company, a Columbus, Ohio, enterprise with multiple other businesses associated with it.[5] He is also a Catholic and involved in some Catholic organizations.[6][7]

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.[8][9]

See also

References
  1. "Sal Bando at Baseball Reference". Baseball Reference. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  2. Kalb, Elliott (22 March 2012). "At 60, Costas remains at top of his game". MLB Network. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  3. Wolf, Gregory H. "Sal Bando". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  4. Tarnoff, Andy (May 7, 2006). "Sal Bando makes cameo on "The Simpsons"". OnMilwaukee.com. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  5. Feran, Tim (March 18, 2010). "Famous Ohio Doll Company Has New Owner". Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  6. Drake, Tim (April 13, 2003). "Season Opener For Pro-Life Major League Baseball Players". National Catholic Register. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  7. "Speaker Bios". Catholic Athletes for Christ. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  8. Walker, Don (December 9, 2010). "Sal Bando Jr. is new MUHS baseball coach". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  9. Stewart, Mark (July 29, 2016). "Sal Bando Jr. will pull double duty at Milwaukee Marquette and MATC". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
Preceded by
Harry Dalton		 Milwaukee Brewers General Manager
1991–1999		 Succeeded by
Dean Taylor
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