Bando was a consistent RBI-man during this period, giving the A’s some pop at the plate while manning third base on a team that also had all-stars Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson and Gene Tenace.
Three times he would finish in the top-5 for American League MVP voting, with a high of second place in 1971 behind teammate Vida Blue.
Of course, like many of his teammates in 1976, he would leave the A’s via Free Agency and sign with the Milwaukee Brewers, playing out the final five years of his very nice 16-year career before retiring in 1981 with 242 homers, 1039 runs batted in and a .254 batting average over 2019 games and 7060 at-bats, with four all-star nods.
