Sal Bando, the captain of one of the greatest baseball dynasties of the 1970s and a three-time World Series champion with the Oakland Athletics, has passed away. On January 20 in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, Bando passed away following a five-year fight with cancer.
Who was Sal Bando?
He was 78 years old when this happened. Bando was a member of the Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City/Oakland Athletics from 1966 to 1976. (1976). (1976). (1977-1981). From 1992 until 1999, he served as the Milwaukee Brewers’ general manager. On February 13, 1944, Salvatore Leonard Bando was born in Cleveland. Chris, his younger brother, would play catcher for him in the major leagues. Sal Bando played for Cleveland in the 1961 National Amateur Baseball Federation competition while attending Warrensville Heights High School in Ohio.
In Cleveland’s 7-6 loss to Detroit in the final game, Bando recorded two RBI singles. In high school, he participated in basketball and football as well, and his talent as a quarterback led to multiple scholarship offers. Bando continued his baseball career at Arizona State University, where coach Bobby Winkles coached him as a successful freshman batter. He had the best batting average in the Southern Division of the Western Athletic Conference as a sophomore (.458).
In the 1965 College World Series, Ohio State was defeated by the Sun Devils. Rick Monday and Duffy Dyer, who will play in the major leagues, were also on the team. Bando amassed 12 hits and 21 total bases in six games, setting two tournament records. He doubled and tripled against Ohio State in the championship game. His batting average of.480 earned him the title of tournament MVP. In the first Amateur Draft, which was held that June, the professionals crushed the Sun Devils. Owner of the Kansas City A’s Charlie Finley selected Bando in the sixth round and Monday in the first round.
Bando initially struggled, but after being assigned to Burlington of the Class-A Midwest League, he rapidly adapted to professional pitching. His third-base defense received accolades from Burlington Bees manager Gus Niarhos as well. Niarhos reassured them, “Don’t worry about Bando; he’ll be alright. In 1965, Bando batted.262 for Burlington before transferring to Double-A Mobile of the Southern League, where he hit.277 with 12 home runs. In Mobile’s annual All-Star Game versus the Southern League All-Stars, Bando was one triple short of the cycle. According to Jack Reed, manager of the Yankees’ Columbus (Ga.) affiliate, Bando possessed the “greatest arm I’ve ever seen on a third baseman.”
The A’s were interested in all of Mobile’s talent, so manager John McNamara persuaded Finley to wait until the team won the Southern League title instead of promoting Bando right then. That September, Bando made his major league debut.
