FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Salvatore Leonard Bando (February 13, 1944 – January 20, 2023) was an American third baseman and general manager in Major League Baseball. He was best known for his eleven seasons with the Kansas City and Oakland Athletics, where he earned prominence as the captain for the “Swingin’ A’s” dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships between 1972 and 1974. Bando was runner-up for the 1971 American League (AL) Most Valuable Player Award, won by teammate Vida Blue, after helping lead the team to the first of five straight division titles.

A four-time All-Star, Bando averaged 23 home runs and 90 runs batted in (RBI) in his last eight years in Oakland. Although he was often overshadowed by his contemporary, Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, Bando remained a strong MVP candidate through Oakland’s championship run, finishing third and fourth in the voting in 1973 and 1974. In 1973 he led the AL with 32 doubles and 295 total bases. After years of combative relations with team owner Charlie Finley, Bando signed as a free agent with the Milwaukee Brewers after the 1976 season, spending his last five seasons with that club.

At the end of his career, Bando ranked third in AL history with 1,896 career games at third base, and also ranked fourth in league history in assists (3,720), tied for fourth in double plays (345), and tenth in putouts (1,647); his 235 home runs as a third baseman ranked third in AL history. His 789 RBI as an Oakland player were a record until Mark McGwire passed him in 1996, and his 192 home runs with the team were a record for a right-handed hitter in Oakland until Jose Canseco passed him in 1991. After his playing career, Bando became 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 the Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.