View PHOTOS from past hickok Belt™ Award Ceremonies
Click through the photo gallery below to relive past Hickok Belt™ Award ceremonies.
Bob Turley receiving his 1958 Hickok Belt Award
Boxer Muhammad Ali shows off his 1974 Hickok Belt as top professional athlete of the year.
New York Yankees star Mickey Mantle with his 1956 Hickok Belt
The father and son promotion team at Maury Goodman (right) and Bob Goodman rounded up the panel of three sportswriters and sportscasters who voted on the Hickok Belt Award and helped turn it into a national phenomenon
New York Yankees shortstop Phil Rizzuto becomes the first winner of the Hickok Belt in 1950. Admiring the award from left to right, Ray Hickok, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jim Konstanty and boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson.
New York Yankees pitcher Allie Reynolds and his 1951 Hickok Belt are flanked by Ray Hickok (left) and heavyweight boxing champion Jersey Joe Wolcott.
World heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano receives some last-minute instruction before heading for the dais to receive his 1952 Hickok Belt Award.
1954 Hickok winner Willie Mays (third from right) is joined for a group shot by Ray Campanella, Larry Doby, Phil Rizzuto, Yogi Bera, John Antonelli, Bob Keegan, and Wally Moon. Antonelli and Keegan were outstanding major-league pitchers from Rochester, while Moon played with the Rochester Red Wings before joining the St. Louis Cardinals.
Golf legend Arnold Palmer hoists the Hickok he won in 1960.
New York Giants receiver Kyle Rote, New York Titans quarterback Al Dorow, New York Yankees slugger Roger Maris, and Giants linebacker Sam Huff receive instructions from the Powers Hotel doorman before the Hickok Belt dinner on Jan. 22, 1961.
Sandy Koufax shows off the Hickok he won in 1963. He is the only one two-time winner in the twenty-seven year history of the award.
Jerry Flynn served as the master of ceremonies for each of the twenty-one Hickok Belt dinners held in Rochester, NY.
winner Jim Brown signs an autograph for Ray Hickok’s son, Chris.
Boston Red Sox star Carl Yastrzemski poses for a photograph with two of Ray Hickok’s children, Holly and Tom, before receiving his award in 1967.
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis signs Ray Hickok’s cast as a man looks on.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Mickey Lolich got everyone’s attention at the 1969 dinner when he blasted the Hickok voters for awarding the belt to New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath instead of his Tigers teammate Denny McLain.
1957 Hickok winner Carmen Basilio plays keep-away from 1974 award winner Muhammad Ali.
Golf legend Ben Hogan couldn’t make it to Rochester to receive his 1953 award, so Ray Hickok arranged for comedian Bob Hope to make a special presentation in California before a tournament a few weeks after the banquet.
1954 Hickok Belt winner Willie Mays stops by to chat with two Baseball Hall of Fame catchers- Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees and Roy Camperella of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Otto Graham feigns disbelief upon receiving his 1955 Hickok Belt from Ray Hickok.
New York Yankees superstar Mickey Mantle shows off his 1956 Hickok Belt to photographers
Ray Hickok playfully plants a punch on the chin of a former world heavyweight boxing champion Jack Dempsey.
World heavyweight boxing champion Carmen Basilio puts up his dukes as Ray Hickok adjusts his 1957 belt.
Ray Hickok Jr. pinch-hit for his ailing father to present New York Yankees home run king Roger Maris with his 1961 belt. Tragically, Ray Jr. and his younger brother, Chris were killed in an automobile accident six years later.
Football legend Johnny Unitas and Jim Brown share a laugh at the head table during the 1965 dinner.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax was the only athlete in the twenty-seven year history of the famed Hickok Belt Award to win it twice. Koufax won it in 1963 and 1965. He is shown here with his first Hickok. A blizzard up and down the East Coast prevented him from making it into Rochester for his second belt.
Baltimore Orioles star Frank Robinson is more than happy to show off his 1966 Hickok Belt.
Joe Namath was unable to attend the awards dinner in Rochester, so Ray Hickok traveled to New York to present Broadway Joe with the 1968 Hickok Belt. (AP/Wide World Photos)
Boston Red Sox star Carl Yastrzemski and Ray Hickok go a little batty during the 1967 belt presentation.
New York Mets pitcher Tom Seaver shows off the belt he won in 1969 after leading his amazing team to a World Series title against the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles.
Spectacular fielding by Baltimore third baseman and 1970 Hickok winner Brooks Robinson enabled the Baltimore Orioles to win the World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
Golfer Lee Trevino won three major tournaments in the span of four weeks to dominate the sports world in 1971. He would be the last Hickok Belt winner to receive the award in Rochester. The presentation ceremonies would move to Chicago, New York, and Washington before being discontinued following the 1976 Hickok awarded to Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler.
Phil Rizzuto (right) attended the luncheon in New York City where O.J. Simpson (center) was presented with the 1973 Hickok Belt. (AP/Wide World Photos)
Pete Rose shows off the Hickok Belt he won in 1975. (AP/Wide World Photos)
