#27: Gets a New Belt
Arnold Palmer owned a lot of belts over his life, but none was quite so special as the one awarded by the Hickok Manufacturing Company.
The Hickok Belt went to the top pro athlete across all sports, as voted on by a panel of 300 sportswriters, and from 1950 to 1976 it was the top award in sports. Winners included Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, Muhammad Ali and, in 1960, Arnold Palmer. En route to the awards ceremony and not knowing who would win, Palmer found himself next to Yankees slugger Roger Maris, who was also competing for the belt . Maris reportedly looked at Arnie and asked him, “What the [heck] are you doing here?” Later, after being announced as the winner, Palmer gave the question back to Maris—most likely with a smile. Years later the two became friends, and the belt is now on display at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando.
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