Sal Bando, best known as the captain of the Oakland A's when they won three consecutive World Series between 1972 and 1974, passed away yesterday of cancer. He was 78.
Born in Cleveland, Bando became part of the baseball powerhouse at Arizona State University under Bobby Winkles along with future A's teammates Rick Monday and Reggie Jackson winning the College World Series in 1965.
For all of A's owner Charlie Finley's many shortcomings, he saw the talent at Arizona State and would make Monday the first ever pick in the augural MLB Draft in 1965 while Bando went in the 6th round. The following year, the A's made Jackson the single overall pick in the country.
Bando, a third baseman, would make his MLB debut with the A's during the 1966 season. Between 1968 and 1978, Bando was one of the game's most durable players playing in 150 or more games in 10 out of 11 seasons and playing all 162 games thrice leading the AL in games played four times.
His breakout season came in 1969 when he hit a career high 31 HR along with a career high 113 RBI earning the first of four AL All-Star Team selections. In 1971, Bando was runner up in AL MVP balloting behind A's teammate Vida Blue. Then came three consecutive World Series trophies. Although he barely hit over .200 during those World Series, he did hit 5 HR over five ALCS appearances.
Following the 1976 season, Bando signed a 5-year, $1.5 million contract with the Milwaukee Brewers. Although he stayed the full five seasons his numbers diminished significantly after 1978. Bando retired at the end of the 1981 season joining the Brewers' front office. Had he remained, Bando could have been part of another World Series along with former A's teammate Rollie Fingers. In 16 big league seasons, Bando collected 1790 hits for a lifetime batting average of .254 with 242 HR and 1039 RBI.
In 1991, Bando was named Brewers' general manager. He would hire former A's teammate Phil Garner as manager the following year. Although successful in 1992, the Brewers would not enjoy a winning season afterward and Bando resigned during the 1999 season after Garner was relieved of his duties.
I leave you with Bando discussing his playing days with the A's in a 2014 interview. R.I.P.
No comments:
Post a Comment