Sal Bando was an integral part of the Oakland Athletics dynasty, and he was there when they were toiling in obscurity in Kansas City. When the Athletics’ owner, Charles O. Finley, relocated the team to Oakland, Bando was at the core of what was poised to become a special team that would define the early 1970s.
Playing at the hot corner, Bando would prove to be a good hitter with decent power. The four-time All-Star had six 20 Home Run seasons, with two seasons seeing him accrue an On Base Percentage over .400. From 1971 to 1974, Bando would finish in the top four in MVP voting in three of those seasons, with the ’71 campaign seeing him as the runner-up. 1972 to 1974 was also the years of the A’s dynasty, where they won three consecutive World Series Championships, and Bando would hit five homers for Oakland in the playoffs.
Defensively, he was more than adequate, but as this was the era of Brooks Robinson and, later, Graig Nettles, a Gold Glove would elude him. Bando would later play for the Milwaukee Brewers from 1977 to 1981.
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