By Aaron Castrejon
BroncoAthletics.com
POMONA, Calif. - Though he never thought he would ever make money out of owning a sports team, Bobby Brett sure has made a career of it.
Brett, who played with the Broncos from 1969 to 1972, purchased the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the Class-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, with his brothers last year.
In addition, the Brett brothers, Bobby, J.B. and Hall of Famer George, own three other teams – the Spokane Indians, the Bellingham Bells, and the minor league hockey Spokane Chiefs, all in the state of Washington.
"Since we all played baseball we thought it would be a fun thing to do," Bobby said. "We never thought we could make a business out of it. Lo and behold, a couple of years later we said, 'Gee, this is kind of fun.'"
The Brett brothers purchased their first minor league team in 1985, that being the Spokane Indians. They had recently owned the High Desert Mavericks before the Quakes were put up for sale.
"Geographically I thought it [the Quakes] was as little bit better," Bobby said. "The community is a fine community. With Rancho, it was tremendously successful."
Bobby signed with the Kansas City Royals' organization in June 1972 and played briefly in the minor leagues.
He then returned to college and earned his teaching credential from Loyola Marymount, after which he served as a teacher and baseball coach at Inglewood High School during the 1974-75 school year. Then, Bobby entered the real estate investment business.
Currently, he and his former high school baseball coach Cliff Warren are real estate business partners in the South Bay area of Los Angeles, buying and operating apartment complexes.
Bobby lives in Spokane to manage his organizations there and travels frequently to California to oversee the Quakes and manage his real estate holdings, so he is never at a loss for things to do.
"With baseball at Cal Poly we learned a lot of life lessons," Bobby said. "It's all about hard work and working for the team. Running a business is no different. Go out and work and do your best. Sometimes you're going to win, sometimes you're going to lose and you battle to try and get better."
On Friday, April 15, Bobby will be honored at the Distinguished Alumni Awards event on the CPP campus. The accolade highlights outstanding achievement in a profession or vocation, service to a local, national or global community and service to Cal Poly Pomona.
