Sal Bando
Salvatore Leonard Bando (born February 13, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player and executive. He played as a third baseman in Major League Baseball between and , and was an integral member of the Oakland Athletics dynasty that won three consecutive World Series championships between 1972 and 1974. He ended his playing career with the Milwaukee Brewers. Bando played college baseball at Arizona State University for coach Bobby Winkles. Baseball career. During the "Swingin' A's" era of 1971-75, Bando captained the team and led the club in runs batted in three times. He was the  second American League third baseman to hit 200 career home runs, joining Brooks Robinson, and retired among the all-time leaders in games (5th, 1896), assists (6th, 3720) and double plays (7th, 345) at his position. In a 16-season career, Bando was a .254 hitter with 242 home runs and 1039 RBI in 2019 games played. His younger brother Chris was a catcher for the Cleveland Indians. Over four consecutive American League Championship Series from 1971–74, he hit five home runs in 17 games, including two in Game 2 of the 1973 ALCS 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. Post-playing career. After retiring, Bando briefly served as a color analyst for NBC (teaming with Bob Costas on telecasts), then became a front office executive with the Brewers. He was named the team's general manager on October 8, . Bando built only one winning team in over seven years as GM. That team, the 1992 Brewers, was largely composed of  players he inherited from his predecessor Harry Dalton. They ended the season with 92 wins and 70 losses under the only manager Bando ever hired in his tenure as GM, Phil Garner, 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 salary arbitration until the 11th hour. Molitor signed a free-agent deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. 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, , resigning the position after manager Phil Garner was fired. Bando was replaced by former Atlanta Braves assistant GM Dean Taylor. Bando did a voice cameo in the 2006 episode of "The Simpsons" titled "Regarding Margie." Currently, Bando is CEO of The Middleton Doll Company, a Columbus, Ohio, enterprise with multiple other businesses associated with it. Both  he and Jon McGlocklin established the firm which was originally the Bando McGlocklin Capital Corporation in 1979. The name changed to its current form on May 4, 2001 to reflect its acquisition of Lee Middleton Original Dolls Inc. He is also a Catholic and involved in some Catholic organizations. Bando's son, Sal Bando, Jr., was the head baseball coach at High Point University from 2001 to 2008. Since 2010 Bando Jr. has been the head baseball coach at Marquette University High School, leading the team to two straight state championship appearances in his first two season there. Sal Bando