Milwaukee Brewers

Date of birth: February 13, 1944 Cleveland, OH

Date of death: January 20, 2023 (78)

High School: Warrensville Heights HS (Warrensville Heights, OH)

College: Westminster College in Missouri

Location: At bat.

Nickname: Captain Sal. Bando remains the only player to officially serve as captain of the A’s in the franchise’s long history.

First Impression; It is a good shot, better than a static headshot.

Career stats: Captain Sal rode the high seas and moved from Kansas City to Oakland when the A’s relocated.  Their first year in Oakland, 1968, he played in all 162 games and hit .251 with 9 home runs.  That was an impressive West Coast start and got even better the next year which would be considered his best.  In 1969 he again played every game and this time he hit .281 with 31 HR and 113 RBI.  He would be a four time all star and 3 time world champion.  He got very close to winning an MVP with 3 top 3 finishes.  His closest loss was to teammate Vida Blue in 1971.

All time stat: Only 254 players have played as many as 2000.  As of 2026 he was 238^th with 2019 and was passed by Jose Altuve.  Manny Machado will likely reach him as well.

Fun fact: Bando batted 5-for-17 (.294) with three doubles in the 1981 American League Division Series, Milwaukee’s first MLB postseason appearance. Bando retired after the 1981 season. In a 16-season career, Bando had a .254 batting average with 242 home runs and 1,039 RBIs

Ever a Future Star?  He was a “Rookie Star” in 1967.

Rookie or final card? Final card.  He was on 17 different Topps cards (major releases).

Hall of Fame? Number retired? Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame and Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor

Links to stories including Sal Butera.