The late Robert “Bob” Breitbard was the founder and longtime curator of the San Diego Hall of Champions. A classmate and teammate of baseball great Ted Williams during their days attending San Diego’s Herbert Hoover High School in the 1930’s, Breitbard founded the Hall of Champions multi-sport museum in 1959 although its Hall of Fame was established in 1953. He was also the original owner of both the San Diego Gulls hockey team as well as San Diego’s first NBA team, the San Diego Rockets.
This lot features the prestigious Breitbard Athletic
Foundation Trophy, which was presented to “California’s Athlete of the Year” as selected by the “California Sports Writers Association Press Poll.” The oversized, two-handled brass trophy measures 38” tall and sits on a two-tiered wooden base that stands a foot tall and measures 18” wide by 18” deep. Screwed into the wooden base are 15 metal placards with the names and years of the
trophy’s worthy recipients spanning from 1958 to 1972.
Top names include Rafer Johnson (1958 and ’60), Gene Littler (1961), Maury Wills (1962), Sandy Koufax (1963, ‘65 and ’66), O.J. Simpson (1968), Bill Toomey (1969), Jim Plunkett (1970), Vida Blue (1971) and Mark Spitz (1972). A small golden bear and a brass outline of the state of California christen the front of the base. The trophy weighs 29 pounds.
Includes Letter of Provenance for the San Diego Hall of
Champions.