Bob Breitbard: San Diego's Sports Keeper

By Dan Fulop

Bob Breitbard: San Diegos Sports Keeper, chronicles the life and accomplishments of a visionary sportsman and great San Diego icons. An all-star in San Diegos sports lineup for more than half a century, Breitbard was involved in the local sports scene as a player, coach, team owner, builder, booster and benefactor of institutions and organizations that helped make San Diego a major-league city.

Breitbard followed his football playing and coaching days at Hoover High School and San Diego State College by becoming the guardian and promoter of the citys sports scene. In 1946, he founded the Breitbard Athletic Association to honor local high school, amateur and professional athletes, and later established the Breitbard Hall of Fame. The Foundation developed into the San Diego Hall of Champions, which today is the nations largest multi-sport museum and a shrine to honor local high school, amateur and professional sports stars- hometown heroes of the past, present and future.

Breitbard was the driving force behind the building of the San Diego Sports Arena and the owner of its original tenant, the Gulls of the Western Hockey League, and the expansion NBA Rockets. Breitbard was also one of the founding members of the Greater San Diego Sports Association, a group that helped build San Diego Stadium, bring the Chargers and major-league Padres to town, establish and support the Holiday Bowl and other first-class sports events and facilities.

Much more than just a uniquely dedicated caretaker of San Diegos sports, the kind and generous Breitbard was a local treasure that helped make San Diego the wonderful city it is today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477243961

Book preview

Bob Breitbard:

San Diego’s Sports Keeper

Dan Fulop

AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2012 Dan Fulop. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/27/2012

ISBN:     978-1-4634-1020-9 (sc)

              978-1-4772-4396-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011912596

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Acknowledgements

Sincere gratitude goes to Robert Breitbard for allowing me to examine and write about his fascinating life, and for the opportunity to work at the Hall of Champions. Learning about his life’s journey made a great impact on me. I feel blessed to have gotten to know Mr. B. The community of San Diego was lucky to have such a dedicated and loyal son. He will be missed very much.

Writing and researching a book that does justice to Bob Breitbard’s accomplishments and legacy would have been impossible

This book benefited from discussions with several people during the course of writing, particularly Bruce Binkowski, Bill Swank, Jack Singer, and Joe Naiman. Their insights and recollections of Bob Breitbard provided direction and focus, and for that I am grateful.

Special thanks to my former friends and colleagues at the San Diego Hall of Champions, Mary Woodall, Robin Redfearn and Todd Tobias, for all their help and support.

I gratefully acknowledge and thank Dr. Iris Engstrand of the University of San Diego, whose advice and enthusiasm motivated me to publish this book.

For design and production of the book cover, my deepest gratitude to Arthur Goldberg, graphic designer and artist extraordinaire.

Thanks to Matthew Waters for his editing and proofreading work. Matthew is the current Philadelphia Eagles beat writer for High Hopes, a Philadelphia sports website. You can read his writing at www.Highhopesblog.com

Much appreciation to the entire Breitbard family, especially Gayle and Jerry Klusky, for their support of this project.

Lastly, thank you to my family – Mom, Dad, Michal, Ester, Ilan, and Stephanie. Without their love, encouragement and generous support over many years, I never could have written this book, or anything else. I love them with all my heart.

Credits

Grateful acknowledgments are made to the following organizations and individuals for permission to reprint images and cite information belonging to them.

San Diego Hall of Champions

http://www.sdhoc.com/

San Diego Bowl Game Association

Produces Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl and

San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl

www.holidaybowl.com www.poinsettiabowl.com

Alex Roel – San Diego Gulls of the Western Hockey League

http://members.cox.net/whlgulls/sdgulls.htm

Louis Chirillo – Seattle Totems of the Western Hockey League

www.seattletotems.org

Arthur Hundhausen – Remember the ABA

www.remembertheaba.com

Ted Giannoulas – The San Diego Chicken

www.famouschicken.com/

To Stephanie, the love of my life.

Without you this book would still just be hundreds of Microsoft Word files.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Credits

Prologue

Introduction: Bob Breitbard: San Diego Sports Legend

Chapter 1: From Helmet Head to Coach

Chapter 2: A Champion for San Diego Sports

Chapter 3: San Diego Sports goes from Bush League to Big League

Chapter 4: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Sports Franchise Ownership

Chapter 5: The Pillar of Sports in San Diego

Chapter 6: More than a Museum

Conclusion: The Legacy of a San Diego Icon

Notes

Bibliography

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Robert Breitbard

April 28, 1919 – May 17, 2010

I have been fortunate to be associated with champions – people who were winners in athletics and in life. Sports… are very important to me. They teach dedication and discipline, character and commitment.

–Bob Breitbard

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Breitbard and former Padres owner John Moores.

Bob Breitbard is one of the grand men in San Diego sports history. Bob’s vision and tenacity are an inspiration for those who care about making San Diego a better place for future generations by remembering past achievements.

–John Moores, former owner of the San Diego Padres

His contribution to San Diego sports is so big it’s sometimes scary. Bob accelerated the development of San Diego sports by at least a decade.

–Les Land, former Executive Director of the Holiday Bowl

I couldn’t help but think how depressing the San Diego sports landscape would be without Bob Breitbard.

–Joe Tutino, San Diego sports radio personality

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Dan Fouts’ Breitbard Hall of Fame plaque.

He was such a major part of the fabric of San Diego. He made it a major-league town, and I think we all owe him a great deal.

–Chargers Hall-of-Fame quarterback great Dan Fouts

Bob Breitbard has done more for sports in San Diego than any other one individual.

–Ken Bojens, former Sports Editor of The San Diego Union

He’s going to be missed. Bob was so important to sports in San Diego and the community — not just the professionals, but all sports. I can’t say enough about all the things he’s done. Despite the politics in San Diego, he wasn’t deterred. He was a doer. He got things done.

–Chargers President Dean Spanos

San Diego has lost a sports giant. Just as his best friend, Ted Williams, was San Diego’ and baseball’s best hitter, so was Bob Breitbard the best ever at preserving, cultivating, and honoring San Diego’s great sports history. His passion for sports and for people was nonpareil. I’m left with the sad thought that too few of us ever thanked him enough for what he so generously has given.

–Dick Enberg, legendary sports broadcaster

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Breitbard and legendary sportscaster Dick Enberg.

Prologue 

San Diego Sports in its Infancy

Long before San Diego became home to Bob Breitbard and his Hall of Champions, even before the San Diego Chicken was dancing at Chargers and Padres games, the region was destined to be an athlete’s paradise. From its earliest days, the culture in San Diego embodied a strong commitment to physical activity, which enabled a colorful and proud sports heritage to develop. Thanks to its year-round climate of sunny and warm weather, outdoor activity is a way of life for San Diegans. It is no wonder that today San Diego churns out some of the best athletic high-school talent and most dominant sporting competitors.

The first civic commitment to athletics and leisure occurred on February 15, 1868, when Ephraim Morse proposed that a portion of the city’s 40,000 acres be developed into a public park for benefit of the community. The resolution was approved by the Board of Trustees leading to the creation of two 160-acre strips of land, later named Balboa Park.¹ Beyond the lush grounds of Balboa Park, San Diego of the late 1800s was considered nature’s playground by many outdoors men for its sprawling wilderness. Author T.S. Van Dyke spoke of the tourist campers and sportsmen who were attracted by San Diego’s warm climate and pristine environment of the back country, bays, and ocean. These visitors, along with the locals, participated in hiking, hunting, swimming, sailing and rowing.²

It was also during these years that organized sports began taking shape in San Diego. On May 6, 1871, players met at New Town’s Plaza for a pickup baseball game, the first recorded match in San Diego’s history. The national pastime quickly caught on, gripping the interest of locals yearning for competitive play. Club teams and later business-sponsored outfits formed. In 1885, Russ School fielded the first high school baseball team in town, and by the late 1880s, baseball in San Diego was a mainstay.³ San Diego’s love affair with golf resulted in another of the early sports born at this time. On March 4, 1897, golfers teed-off on a nine-hole course consisting of dirt fairways and sand greens in Balboa Park. The first all grass 18-hole course was christened one year later in Coronado.⁴

Another institution important to the spread and growth of sports in San Diego was the local YMCA. Beginning in the late 1880s, in an effort to increase membership, YMCA chapters began offering physical culture programs.¹+ Initially these classes consisted of gymnastics and calisthenics.⁵ As the physical department expanded, the YMCA improved and constructed facilities to meet demand and broaden the scope of athletic services. Leagues were formed with competitive matches occurring in football, basketball, boxing, fencing, wrestling, volleyball and badminton. Besides gymnasium sports, the YMCA offered weight-lifting facilities, handball and tennis courts, pools for recreational and competitive swimming, massage and health services, locker rooms with free towels and lockers, and hot showers. For younger members, the YMCA conducted outdoor retreats where activities such as boating and hiking took place.⁶

The growth in participation amongst San Diegans in athletic organizations and school sports teams benefited the individual as well as the community. As a direct result of increased opportunity and exposure to sports and athletics, locals went on to turn in stunning individual performances in a variety of sports at the professional, collegiate and Olympic level. These athletes grabbed national headlines and were a source for civic pride. Gavvy Cravath became the area’s first major league athlete, debuting with the Boston Red Sox on April 18, 1908. In 1915, as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, Cravath’s 24 home runs established the modern day home run record.⁷ In the 1920 Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium, high diver Clarence Pinkston won San Diego its first gold medal.⁸ Just one year later, the highly touted San Diego Four (consisting of Brick Muller, Pesky Sprott, Stanley Barnes and Cort Majors), led the Cal Bears football team to an undefeated season, capped off by a dominating victory in the Rose Bowl over Ohio State.⁹

Occasionally San Diego attracted big league names and talent, who if the price was right, were willing to perform in exhibition matches for local crowds. In 1926, the Chicago Bears featuring Red Grange took on the Cline Californians at City Stadium.¹⁰ The following year, two of the most famous names in baseball appeared in the stadium. On October 28, 1927, legendary Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig stopped in San Diego on their nationwide barnstorming tour. Ruth’s Bustin’ Babes faced Gehrig’s Larrupin’ Lou’s before 3,500 fans.  San Diego’s best semi-pro players comprised the rosters of each star’s team.¹¹

By the 1920s, during Bob Breitbard’s childhood years, San Diego’s sporting capacity was firmly established with a strong base in amateur and prep sports. The city fielded club teams comprised of local citizens and military squads made up of servicemen stationed on the many bases. Baseball and football were the popular attractions in town, drawing the most participants and fans. Without any professional sports franchises, spectators rooted for their town’s high school team, and trekked to nearby parks for games between traveling club teams comprised of locals and temporarily stationed military personnel. San Diego also boasted a reputation as home to some of the best athletes and places to compete/watch many of the less mainstream sports. These included boxing matches, auto races, golf, swimming, tennis, badminton, wrestling, horse racing and polo, rowing and sailing, and track and field.

As the 1920s approached, sports in San Diego, together with its young history, humble offerings, and budding culture, existed as such when Bob Breitbard was born. Over the course of his life, Breitbard would work to honor, build and improve upon local sports. His contributions helped form sports in San Diego as it exists today.

Introduction 

Bob Breitbard, a Legend in San Diego Sports

Most people can identify with holding onto possessions from the past. Childhood toys, ticket stubs from memorable concerts, or vintage clothing you’re hoping will again one day be fashionable. True, the majority of our clutter is in fact junk and outside of a yard sale it would not fetch much interest, yet to us these relics possess a special quality money cannot buy, sentimental value. And then there was Bob Breitbard’s junk – priceless sports artifacts and memorabilia amassed over some 15 years, not because he was a collector or hoped to sell them, but rather to preserve a piece of San Diego’s sports history.

Breitbard began collecting the sports memorabilia shortly after the Breitbard Athletic Foundation was created in 1946. Professional and Olympic sports stars from San Diego began donating equipment and clothing used during competition, and with each championship victory or record breaking performance, Breitbard came into possession of another keepsake. After 15 years Breitbard’s garage housed an impressive cache of sports artifacts, which among the more notable pieces included the bat used by Ted Williams to hit .406, boxing gloves from one of Archie Moore’s title fights, and Maureen Connolly’s racket she won Wimbledon with.

Breitbard found space for any and every piece of memorabilia until eventually he filled up the family garage. Not wanting to see which room her husband would use for storage next, Mrs. Breitbard suggested the clutter join the garbage cans on the curb. But he felt his collection deserved a home, a place where it would serve to honor the athletes and be shared with the public. So, instead of holding what could have been the greatest garage sale of all time, he decided to open a museum and turn one man’s junk into an entire city’s treasure. Today, thanks to Breitbard’s foresight and dedication, San Diego is home to the most successful and unique multi-sports museum in the nation, the Hall of Champions.

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The San Diego Hall of Champions, referred to by the Hall Of Fame Network as one of America’s historical and educational treasures.

So who was Bob Breitbard?

Bob Breitbard was a native San Diegan, and proud of it. He played football at Hoover High School, where he was a classmate of baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams and remained one of Ted’s closest friends. He continued to play football at San Diego State College²+ and was named All-Conference his senior year. Breitbard always loved coaching, and after graduating he taught and coached several sports at Hoover. In 1945, Breitbard became the Aztec’s volunteer head coach, re-establishing the football program following World War II.

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Breitbard presents special award certificates to coaches of the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot Football Team. Today, the Hall of Champions houses an exhibit dedicated to military sports, displaying artifacts dating back to the early 1900s.

After getting married, Breitbard joined his three brothers in the family business, the California Linen Supply, where he served as president until 1985. Although he enjoyed large business successes, sports were always Breitbard’s passion. Breitbard followed his heart, and in 1946, established the Breitbard Athletic Foundation to promote educational work, encourage competition, and recognize significant athletic achievement in San Diego. The program continues to honor local high school, amateur and professional sports stars of the past, present and future.

In 1961, Breitbard and the Foundation opened The San Diego Hall of Champions sports museum. Located in San Diego’s Balboa Park, the Hall of Champions is the nation’s largest multi-sport museum, boasting three levels of memorabilia, a state-of-the-art theatre, and interactive displays. In addition to recognizing San Diego’s outstanding athletic accomplishments and traditions, the museum also serves to influence young lives by operating many youth programs. Breitbard always loved promoting the Hall of Champions, even if he couldn’t speak. In 1991, while recovering from surgery for an aortic aneurysm in the intensive care unit at Sharp Hospital, Breitbard, still too weak to communicate verbally, wrote his most urgent request to a passing nurse. Pins. By the end of Breitbard’s stay much of the hospital staff’s scrubs had a shiny San Diego Hall of Champions lapel pin.¹

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Breitbard pinning a Hall of Champions pin on a guest’s sweater, 2007.

Along the journey from garage to sports Mecca, Breitbard joined other civic-minded businessman to form the Greater San Diego Sports Association (later named the San Diego International Sports Council). The group, which Breitbard was a longtime board member of, helped bring the Chargers and major-league Padres to town, build San Diego Stadium, and establish the Holiday Bowl.

Breitbard was the driving force behind the building of the San Diego Sports Arena and the owner of its original tenant, the Gulls of the Western Hockey League, and later the Rockets of the National Basketball Association. An esteemed member of the Board of Governors for both leagues, Breitbard was respected as a visionary and innovator, an owner who always prided himself on running a first-class operation. It was even once written that Breitbard used to test the hot dogs and peanuts at the Sports Arena before games to make sure everything was fresh.²

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San Diego Gulls 1971-72 Pocket Schedule.

What remains of those teams and the arena is pretty substantial. In a town where sand, surfing and sunshine dominate, Breitbard created a following for hockey in San Diego, which even if the city lacks an NHL franchise or even a minor league team, still exists today. The San Diego Sports Arena, with a long history of attracting truly an iconic roster of events for more than 40 years, continues to operate as one of the nation’s most versatile and successful facilities, hosting in excess of 125 events every year. The 14,500-seat arena provides the widest range of premium entertainment to over 600,000 people annually, and each year, entertainment magazines such as Pollstar, Venues Today, and Billboard Magazine, rate the San Diego Sports Arena amongst the top five facilities in the world for venues under 15,000 seats.³ The arena remains the only ice facility in San Diego County, while Kobey’s Swap Meet is the city’s largest outdoor market and the third largest on the West Coast, drawing 30,000 shoppers and approximately 1.2 million people per year.⁴

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San Diego Rockets Calvin Murphy defies gravity on his way to the hoop, 1970. Murphy, diminutive yet extremely quick, was an instant star on and off the court.

Besides his involvement in sports, Breitbard was the pillar of countless philanthropic and civic efforts, attempting to support and serve any and every local cause, believing that you should give yourself as well as your means. In addition to donating large amounts of money to countless charities, he held positions on the boards of numerous organizations, including Sharp Hospital and the President’s Circle of the Salk Institute. For Breitbard, never one to do a lot of self-promotion about his charitable work, mere compliments of his museum were the more gratifying than all the honors and awards he received. John Reid, former executive director of the GSDSA, once told a reporter that Breitbard had often written personal donations to various Holiday Bowl or GSDSA functions, but insisted they be anonymous.⁵

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Most every popular musical act has performed at the San Diego Sports Arena, including such iconic groups as the Rolling Stones, Madonna, U2, Elton John, and Elvis Presley.