Charlie Brumfield, the sports first dominant champion, passed away earlier this week on June 1st. He was a few days shy of his 78th birthday.
Brumfield was Racquetball’s first GOAT. He was a top-level Paddleball player in the late 1960s, won the National Paddleball Association’s Open Singles title in both 1969 and 1970, and partnered with fellow San Diego resident Dr. Bud Muehleisen to take the Open Doubles titles in 1968 and 1969.
(see https://npa.paddleball.org/tournaments-2/national-champions/ for the NPA’s list of champions historically).
Soon, like many of his Paddleball colleagues, he pivoted to Racquetball and was a dominant force in Racquetball’s early days. He brought his dominant paddleball control game to Racquetball, but also incorporated the speed that stringed racquets enabled in the sport. Brumfield made the National Racquetball Singles final in both 1969 and 1970, then won it in both 1972 and 1973 during a time that predated any professional tournaments in the sport. He also claimed three Amateur National Doubles titles in the early 1970s before moving completely to the pro game.
(see https://rball.pro/85i for US Nationals singles titlists, https://rball.pro/a2ef0b for US Nationals Amateur Doubles titles).
Pro racquetball really got its start in 1974, and Brumfield was a force early. By the time the 1974-75 season rolled around, Brumfield was the clear #1 on tour. He won the first two Pro Nationals titles (the equivalent of a “Pro Title” in the early days) held in 1975 by competing pro entities IRA and NRC, then won the 1976 DP/Leach Nationals on home soil in San Diego to get his fifth career “National Title” in singles (three pro, two amateur). He topped Marty Hogan in June 1976 for the title, a significant win because it would mark a changing of the guard in the sport. After dominating Hogan for much of 1975 and 1976, Hogan flipped the table and went on a tear in 1976-77 season. Brumfield would win just one more title after his 76 Nationals win as Hogan took the upper hand in their years-long rivalry.
( see https://www.proracquetballstats.com/irt/year_end_titles.html and https://rball.pro/000f20 for a list of all Finals on tour).
Brumfield continue to tour mostly full time for the rest of the decade, but the introduction of power to the game and Brumfield’s rising age led to him retiring from the pro game after the 1980-81 season at the age of 32. He retired with 16 official career pro wins on the NRC/IRA (still good for 11th of all time) and a W/L record of 185-48, good for a W/L percentage of .794, which sits 4th all time in the history of the sport behind just Kane, Marty, and Sudsy.
(see https://rball.pro/96a384 for his Career Pro Summary page, https://rball.pro/d590ca for a ranking of tourney winners, and https://rball.pro/da9ff5 for Career W/L rankings)
Brumfield was also instrumental to the early days of Outdoor Racquetball, and participated in the first two iterations of Outdoor Nationals, giving the event credence and helping to convince his fellow “indoor” pros to play it as well. He won the first two Pro Outdoor singles titles in 1974 and 1975, winning the Doubles title in the inaugural event with Dr. Bud in 74, and losing in the final of 1975 before “retiring” from outdoor pro. Nonetheless, his importance to outdoor earned him a place in the 2nd ever WOR Hall of Fame class.
(see https://rball.pro/91u for Outdoor Nationals historical singles winners, and here https://rball.pro/9fk for Outdoor Nationals historical doubles winners).
Brumfield’s home in San Diego was also home to a custom-built court that resembles a historical archive of the sport. Dubbed the “Pacific Paddleball Association” the club has hosted both racquetball and paddleball competitions for decades. See https://www.pacificpaddleball.com/ for more.
Brumfield’s exploits have earned him multiple Hall of Fame inductions:
– Paddleball: 2014 (3rd ever person inducted)
– USA Racquetball: 1988 (6th ever person inducted)
– USA Lifetime Achievement recognition in 2013
– WOR Outdoor Racquetball: 2013 (2nd ever person inducted)
(see these links for Hall of Fame bios: NPA: https://npa.paddleball.org/npa-info/hall-of-fame/, USAR: https://www.usaracquetball.com/programs/hall-of-fame/inductees/1988 , and WOR: https://www.usaracquetball.com/wor-hall-of-fame-inductees/charlie-brumfield )
During the duration of his early playing career, Brumfield was also attending his hometown University of San Diego, where he earned a BS and a Law degree in 1973. He delayed the start of his career for years after his Law School graduation due to the simple fact that he was out-earning lawyers during his time playing for money on the courts (and, as he noted, it was a lot more fun). He eventually had a long career in the law, retiring as an in-house counsel to a Biotech firm.
Brumfield is known for being an absolute fierce opponent on the court, combining his fitness and skill with a level of physicality that would shock today’s tender, avoidable-seeking players. It was not unusual for players of the mid 1970s to give each other elbows mid-rally, or to hip-check a player out of the way. Brumfield and Hogan’s matches were legendary, as were his matches against other colorful contemporaries of the day. By the time yours truly got a chance to meet him, he was retired, gregarious, hilarious, and could spin yarn about the sport for hours on end. I enjoyed a couple of dinners with Brum in the last few years at 3WB in Vegas, and I’m completely grateful to have had the opportunity to meet him and talk to him.
RIP Brumfield; you will be missed.