Sam Balter (1988) - Hall of Fame

Sam Balter

Induction:
1988

Captain of the UCLA basketball team in 1929, Sam Balter was one of five Bruins on the 1936 U.S. Olympic basketball team that won the gold medal. He later became a radio broadcaster, and announced UCLA basketball and football games during the 1950s, as well as Olympic fights and Los Angeles Angels and Hollywood Stars baseball. He served as sports director at two local radio stations (KLAC and KABC) and wrote a sports column for the Herald-Express for 10 years. He was the first sportscaster to win the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters "Diamond Circle" Award, former recipients of which include Lowell Thomas, H.V. Kaltenborn and Edward R. Murrow. Balter, who was a member of the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame, died at 88 in 1998.