#371 Sal Bando - Oakland Athletics

Salvatore Leonard Bando
Oakland Athletics
Third Base

Bats:  Right  Throws:  Right  Height:  6'0"  Weight:  195
Born:  February 13, 1944, Cleveland, OH

Drafted:  Drafted by the Kansas City Athletics in the 6th round of the 1965 amateur draft, June 8, 1965
Major League Teams:  Kansas City Athletics 1966-67; Oakland Athletics 1968-76; Milwaukee Brewers 1977-81

World Series Appearances:  Oakland Athletics 1972-74
Died:  January 20, 2023, Oconomowoc, WI (age 78)

Sal Bando played 16 years in the majors, and was the team captain for an Athletics dynasty that won three straight World Series titles between 1972 and 1974.  Bando was a four-time All-Star with the Athletics, and one of the best third baseman in the American League in the 1970s, often overshadowed by the Orioles' Brooks Robinson (#550).  His career year came in 1969 when he batted .281 with 31 home run and 113 RBIs, both power figures being career bests.  Bando hit at least 20 home runs in six different seasons and drove in at least 100 runs twice.  He was runner-up for the American League MVP award in 1972, finishing behind teammate Vida Blue, and he led the league in doubles with 32 in 1973.  Bando departed Oakland following the 1976 season and spent five more years as the Brewers' third baseman and designated hitter before retiring in 1981.  He batted .254 for his career, with 1,790 hits, 289 doubles, 242 home runs and 1,039 RBIs.  Bando held the Athletics' franchise record for home runs (192) and RBIs (789) until being passed by Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire, respectively.

Bando's second act was as a successful front office executive.  He joined the Brewers' front office and was named the club's general manager in 1991, holding that position until 1999.  Bando is a member of both the Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame and the Milwaukee Brewers Wall of Honor.

Building the Set / Card #346
December 3, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)

Doug and I returned to The Philly Show in early December, once again held inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania.  eBay has taken over sponsorship of the show, with the quaint, bubble-lettered Philly Show logo that had been in place since the 1980s replaced with a more modern logo, keeping with the times.  I wrote about the show in a post over at The Phillies Room.

Similar to my strategy from March, I wanted to focus on accumulating commons and having found success with Uncle Dick's Cards before, I didn't mess around and headed right for the neon green binders.  I pulled 145 cards from the binder containing cards 301 to the end of the set, stopping when I reached 500.  This card was the 54th of 145 cards purchased for our set, and after the dealer discount due to my bulk purchase, it cost me a little over $1.

The Card / Athletics Team Set / Accuracy Index +2

The photo used for Bando's 1968 Topps card is just slightly different from the photo used here, with Bando removing his Kansas City hat for both.  He'd appear again later in the set on an A's Stars card (#556) with Bert Campaneris (#495) and Danny Cater (#44).  Topps reprinted the card for its 2002 Topps Archives set, with Bando also signing copies of the reprint for an Autographs insert included with that set.

Still young in his career, Topps uses the back of the card to discuss his minor league success and his .480 average at the College World Series in 1964, as a member of the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Accuracy Index:  Bando's card is accurate (+5), but loses points given he's hatless (-3).

1969 Season
Manager Hank Bauer (#124) named Bando as team captain in May 1969, and he'd hold that title until leaving the club via free agency following the 1976 season.  Bando had a career year, as mentioned above, and started all 162 games for the Athletics at third base.  Only right fielder Reggie Jackson (#260) topped his offensive numbers.

1967 Topps #33

1972 Topps #650

1974 Topps #103

1975 Topps #380

1981 Topps #623

Other Notable Baseball Cards
First Mainstream Card:  1967 Topps #33
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (15):  1967-81
Most Recent Mainstream Card:  2022 Topps Allen & Ginter #324
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards:  162 in the Beckett online database as of 8/11/24.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / SABR / Wikipedia

Beckett Database / The Trading Card Database

#370 Juan Marichal - San Francisco Giants / #372 Adolfo Phillips - Chicago Cubs

#556 A's Stars - Sal Bando / Bert Campaneris / Danny Cater CPC

In the set's sixth series, Topps made the decision to include four (and only four) combo cards featuring members of the Orioles, Senators, Athletics and Giants.  A staple throughout the prior decade-plus of Topps sets, the combo cards would make a brief, final appearance with these four cards and then disappear again.  Various checklists also denote these as "CPC" for combo player cards.

Building the Set / Card #73
February 13, 2023 from Wenonah, NJ (Gar Miller Cards)
Given my chosen profession, I sit through an inordinate amount of work meetings, which are now almost all virtual in this post-pandemic world.  On some occasions, these meetings are admittedly a combination of boring, unneeded, too lengthy or some combination of all three.  During a recent early February virtual work meeting, and after it became apparent the meeting had derailed into matters unimportant to me personally, I bought a bunch of old baseball cards.  Gar Miller is a noted hobby luminary, and he still sells vintage baseball cards via his online store, Gar Miller Cards.  I navigated over to his website, picking up a small stack of cards from this 1969 Topps set build and a few bonus cards for our not yet officially collecting 1955 Bowman and 1959 Topps sets.  For those watching me on screen during the virtual work meeting, I had the appearance of someone smiling, nodding appreciatively and following along attentively.  But in reality, I was adding baseball cards to my online cart, including this A's Stars card which was $10.

The Card / Athletics Team Set

Similar to the combo card proceeding it, the "Bird Hill Aces" (#532) that omitted the main Bird Hill Ace, Jim Palmer (#573), this card omits the biggest star for the A's in 1969 - Reggie Jackson (#260).  As Jackson had first made his mark on the league in 1968, this shouldn't have come as a surprise to Topps.  What's more, first baseman Danny Cater's (#44) inclusion here is somewhat surprising, given he had never been considered in the "star" category.  He did finish second in the batting race in 1968 with a .290 mark, but that's barely star-worthy.  In 1968, the Athletics sent three players to the All-Star Game - Bert Campaneris (#495), Rick Monday (#105) and John Odom (#195).  In 1969, Odom returned to the All-Star Game and was joined by teammates Sal Bando (#371) and Jackson.  Nothing against former Phillie Cater here, but an A's Stars card likely should have omitted him and included either Monday, Odom or the budding superstar Jackson.

What's more, the first sentence on the back of the card refers to the "youthful A's" which would have fit the description of Bando (25), Monday and Jackson (both 23), but likely not Cater (29).  Had the Topps photographer found someway to squeeze Jackson into this photo, it would have been much more desirable and accurate.

1969 Season

The three top players in 1969 for the Athletics were Jackson, Bando and second baseman Dick Green (#515).  Hank Bauer's (#124) club was in first place as late as July 4th, but then fell into second place on July 5th, where they'd stay for the duration of the season.  Their 88-74 record landed them nine games behind the American League West division winners, the Twins.  Bando batted .281 with 31 home runs and 113 RBIs, leading the team in batting, but second behind Jackson who had a monster year.  At one point, Jackson's home run tally was on pace to break Roger Maris's single-season record of 61 home runs set in 1961.  Jackson would finish the season with 47 home runs and 118 RBIs.

Campaneris had another consistent year, playing steady shortstop and batting .260 with 62 stolen bases, which was second in the league behind Tommy Harper's (#42) 73.  Cater had a decent year too, batting .262 over 152 games with 10 home runs and 76 RBIs.  His RBI tally was third on the club behind Jackson and Bando.

Sources:  
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia

#555 Jim Hart - San Francisco Giants / #557 Frank Fernandez - New York Yankees