This week's re-done 1977 "former" Oakland A's star is All-Star third baseman Sal Bando, who signed on with the Milwaukee Brewers before the 1977 season began, thus ending his great run as an Athletic after 11-years:
Bando
broke many a heart in Oakland on November 19th of 1976 when he signed
with the Brewers, part of the mass exodus of Oakland's stars that
brought the city three straight World Championships between 1972 and
1974.
A
huge cog in that machine of the mid-70's, he would end up making four All-Star
teams over his career, while placing top-4 in MVP votes three times
with a high of second place in 1971 when teammate Vida Blue took home
the honors.
Bando put together a very solid 16-year career that saw him take
home three championships, participate in four all-star games, and finish
in the top-10 in MVP voting three times.
His five 20-homer and two 100+ RBI seasons were a nice compliment
to Reggie's offensive exploits, and with Joe Rudi, Gene Tenace and Bert
Campaneris thrown in you can see why those A's teams were so strong.
Then again, with starting pitching like Vida Blue, Catfish Hunter,
Ken Holtzman, Rollie Fingers et al, yeah, they were going to kick-ass no
matter what…
Sadly
for Milwaukee however, though he did stick with them for the last five
years of his Big League career, he never reached the solid numbers he
put up while with Oakland, topping out at 17 homers, 82 RBI's and a .285
batting average as highs between 1977 and 1981 before retiring at the
age of 37.
