Sal Bando
Encyclopedia
Salvatore Leonard Bando (born February 13, 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

) is a former third baseman
Third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run...

 and executive in professional baseball
Professional baseball
Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....

 who played for the Kansas City & Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....

 (1966–76) and Milwaukee Brewers
Milwaukee Brewers
The Milwaukee Brewers are a professional baseball team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, currently playing in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League...

 (1977–81). He batted and threw right-handed. During the A's championship years of 1971-75, he captained
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...

 the team and led the club in runs batted in
Run batted in
Runs batted in or RBIs is a statistic used in baseball and softball to credit a batter when the outcome of his at-bat results in a run being scored, except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play. The first team to track RBI was the Buffalo Bisons.Common nicknames for an RBI...

 three times. He was the second American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...

 third baseman to hit 200 career home run
Home run
In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

s, joining Brooks Robinson
Brooks Robinson
Brooks Calbert Robinson, Jr. is a former American professional baseball player. He played his entire 23-year major league career for the Baltimore Orioles . Nicknamed "The Human Vacuum Cleaner", he is generally acclaimed as the greatest defensive third-basemen in major league history...

, and retired among the all-time leaders in games (5th, 1896), assists
Assist (baseball)
In baseball, an assist is a defensive statistic, baseball being one of the few sports in which the defensive team controls the ball. An assist is awarded to every defensive player who fields or touches the ball prior to the recording of a putout, even if the contact was unintentional...

 (6th, 3720) and double play
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....

s (7th, 345) at his position. In a 16-season career, Bando was a .254 hitter
Batting average
Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

 with 242 home runs and 1039 RBI in 2019 games played
Games played
Games played is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated ; the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested.-Baseball:In baseball, the statistic applies also to players who, prior to a game,...

. His brother Chris
Chris Bando
Christopher Michael Bando was a catcher in Major League Baseball in the 1980s, spending much of his career with the Cleveland Indians before also playing for the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics. He was formerly the manager of the South Coast League's Aiken Foxhounds and The New York - Penn...

 was a catcher for the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

.

Over four consecutive American League Championship Series
American League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the American League Championship Series , played in October, is a round in the postseason that determines the winner of the American League pennant...

 from 1971–74, he hit five home runs in 17 games, including two in a 1973 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. After retiring, Bando became a front office executive with the team. He was named the Brewers' general manager
General manager (baseball)
In Major League Baseball, the general manager of a team typically controls player transactions and bears the primary responsibility on behalf of the ballclub during contract discussions with players....

 on October 8, .

For a variety of reasons (including low payroll, bad free agent signings and poor amateur drafts) Bando managed to build only one winning team in seven plus years as GM. That team, the 1992 Brewers, was largely composed of players he inherited from his predecessor Harry Dalton
Harry Dalton
Harry I. Dalton was an American front-office executive in Major League Baseball. He served as general manager of three American League teams, the Baltimore Orioles , California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers , and was a principal architect of the Orioles' dynasty of 1966–1974 as well as the only AL...

. They ended the season with 92 wins and 70 losses under the only manager Bando ever hired in his tenure as GM, Phil Garner
Phil Garner
Philip Mason Garner is a former infielder in Major League Baseball for the Oakland Athletics, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Francisco Giants from 1973 to 1988...

, 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
Paul Molitor
Paul Leo Molitor , nicknamed "Molly" and "The Ignitor", is an American former Major League Baseball designated hitter and infielder. During his 21-year baseball career, he played for the Milwaukee Brewers , Toronto Blue Jays , and Minnesota Twins...

 salary arbitration until the 11th hour. Molitor signed a free-agent deal with the Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League ....

. 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, . He was reassigned within the organization and replaced by former Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

 assistant GM Dean Taylor.

Bando did a voice cameo in the episode of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

titled "Regarding Margie
Regarding Margie
“Regarding Margie” is the 20th episode of The Simpsons’ seventeenth season.-Plot:Looking for a way to get easy money, Bart, Milhouse, and Nelson go around town spray-painting people’s addresses on their curbs and making them pay them ten dollars for the unsolicited service...

."

Trivia

  • Bando's younger brother, Chris Bando
    Chris
    Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, Crissie and others. Unlike these names, however, it does not indicate the person's gender although it is much more common for males to have this name than it is for females. It is the preferred form of...

    , played in the major leagues.
  • Bando's son, Sal Bando, Jr., was the head baseball coach at High Point University
    High Point University
    High Point University is a private liberal arts university in High Point, North Carolina, USA, affiliated with the United Methodist Church.- Beginnings :...

     from 2001–2008 and compiled a 144-243 record.
  • Currently, Bando is CEO of Middleton Doll Company, a Columbus, Ohio enterprise with multiple other businesses associated with it.
  • He played college baseball at Arizona State for legendary coach Bobby Winkles
    Bobby Winkles
    Bobby Brooks Winkles is a former baseball coach at Arizona State University. Bobby Winkles coached from 1959–1971 and was the first varsity baseball coach at Arizona State University. Winkles laid the foundation for the legacy that has become Sun Devil baseball. His overall record while head coach...

    .

See also

  • Charles O. Finley
    Charles O. Finley
    Charles Oscar Finley , nicknamed Charlie O or Charley O, was an American businessman who is best remembered for his tenure as the owner of the Oakland Athletics Major League Baseball team. Finley purchased the franchise while it was located in Kansas City, moving it to Oakland in 1968...

  • List of top 300 Major League Baseball home run hitters
  • List of Major League Baseball players with 1000 RBI
  • List of Major League Baseball doubles champions

External links

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