Sal Bando                             Elected 1989

Third Baseman
Atlanta Hilltoppers (MAN, CLE, LA, DET, BOS, DEN, CHI)
1968-1988

Where to begin with Salvatore Leonard “Sal” Bando? Peak value? Career totals? The era he played in? The teams? The awards? The achievements? His position? I can tell you without any equivocation that he’s one of my all-time favorite UL players. He was also part of some of my all-time favorite UL teams, including the 1971 Atlanta Hilltoppers, which still stand as the most offensive team in UL history by total runs, runs per game and runs above league average. Who else was on that team? Joe Torre, Felix Mantilla, Bernie Allen and Rocky Colavito. I’m no math major, but by my count that’s four current and one future Beachville resident in the same lineup.

Let’s start with his position, third base. Among turd basemen already ensconced in Beachville there’s Eddie Matthews and … Eddie Matthews. Strictly speaking, that’s not true. Bernie Allen played about a quarter of his HOF career at the hot corner. Felix Mantilla and Rico Petrocelli a third. Turns out that third is also the least populated position in the real-life Hall. Question is, why is that? Maybe the clue is in the Allen/Mantilla/Petrocelli career arcs—if you can field, you’re gonna play the middle infield, like those guys did. And if you are a static masher, you’re gonna play first base, or even a corner OF spot. I just don’t see many specialist third basemen. Which brings us around to Sal, who played fully 99% of his approximately 22,770 UL innings at the hot corner.

What about peak value? I like the four years from 1971 to '74 in Atlanta where he put up WAR of 9.0, 11.0, 5.8 and 7.3, alongside OPS of .957, 1.068, .816 and .917. In those four years he scored 143 (!), 129, 104 and 111 runs, with 99, 139 (!), 104 and 104 ribs. I mean, come on man. He put up 4.2 WAR or more in 11 of 13 seasons from 1970 to 1982; the other two times his WAR totals were 3.8 and 3.9. Yeah, I think that’s pretty remarkable. Thing is, his glove work was also exceptional. Even at the age of 44 in his final season he had a positive zone rating and defensive efficiency greater than 1.000, just as he did virtually every year of his incredible career.

Which leads us to career totals. The dude hit more than 430 dongs, knocked in and scored nearly 1500 ribs and runs, and walked nearly 1400 times. And one of my personal favorite stats displays his remarkable discipline—he struck out only 33 more times than he walked; indeed, his career run and rib totals exceed his strikeout total. He’s top-10 all-time in walks, games, WAR, Ribs, Runs, total bases, ABs and hits. He’s 12th in doubles and 16th in dongs.

I said he’s top-10 in WAR. The guys ahead of him are, in order, Torre, Mantle, Frank Robinson, Craig Robinson, Mays and Aaron. That’s it. It’s a similar story for runs, ribs and walks. Walks he’s behind only Mantle and Torre. Okay, so you get the point, his career totals are among the very, very best in the history of the league.

What about the achievements? The awards? He was part of four World Series teams—1968 Manhattan, 1971 Atlanta, 1980 Boston and 1986 Manhattan—including when he was 24 in '68 and when he was 42 in '86.  Awards? Without a doubt the most notable achievement was being recognized as the third baseman on the 1971-80 All-Decade Team. In that period he was All-UL from 72-74, his streak broken by the aforementioned Petrocelli and later by Mike Schmidt.

What’s the punchline? Sal Bando was the best player at his position for more than a decade, putting up truly staggering career totals from one of the hardest positions to excel at. What’s more, he played on teams that were .500 or better every year from his 1968 Manhattan debut through 1982 Boston. That’s pretty remarkable and shows the value of having HoF-caliber studlers at premium positions. So however you slice it, peak or career values, awards or achievements, lumber or leather, there can be no doubt this guy surely stands among the all-time greats. (Glen Reed)