The Bowling Chronicles
Collected Writings of Dr. Jake
$29.95
In stock
About the Book
Millions of people bowl yet few know much about bowling’s rich history. For more than 25 years, J.R. “Dr. Jake” Schmidt has been recounting that history in Bowlers Journal International with vitality and detail. This collection of 90 of his classic articles presents portraits of Dick Weber, Don Carter, Marion Ladewig and other tenpin immortals. Great matches and tournaments are recalled, along with little-known and forgotten stories—the bowling ball that went around the world, the 300 game that took a week to complete, the symphony concert that featured a bowler rolling against pins on stage, the traveling hustler who passed himself off as a German nobleman, the baseball Hall of Famer who won a national bowling championship, and much more.
About the Author(s)
Bibliographic Details
J.R. Schmidt
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 248
Bibliographic Info: 36 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6775-1
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2806-6
Imprint: McFarland
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Preface 1
A (Very) Short History of Bowling 3
Mort the Moose 5
Long John Koster 6
El Zunko 8
Magnificent Marino 10
The Perfect Game 12
Eddie Kawolics and Me 15
The Old Sarge 17
Uncanonized Saint 19
An Interview with Jimmy Blouin 21
The Prince of Bowlers 29
Professor Krumske 33
The Legend of Junie McMahon 34
Seven Days to 300 38
The Flying Falstaffs 40
Bowling’s Cinéma Vérité 43
That’s Shaul, Folks! 45
Nobody’s Buddy 46
Things I Learned While Looking Up Other Things 49
Belle of the Ball 50
The Joker Is Wild 53
The Patriotic Bowling Tournament 55
The Greatest Team Match 57
Bowling’s Landmark Tour 59
Don Carter: An Appreciation 63
A Dream in Detroit 66
The Original Perfect Man 68
One Soldier’s Story 70
Famous Nicknames 72
The Infamous 5–7–10 75
Fabulous Faetz-Niesen 77
How Jimmy Smith Became Champ 79
The Big Three Bowlers Tour 81
Where Have You Gone, Morrie Oppenheim? 83
How We Learned to Love the 10-Pin 88
Weighty Bowlers 90
More Things I Learned While Looking Up Other Things 92
The First ABC Tournament 94
Joe Norris, R.I.P. 96
Style and Substance 98
Brunswick or AMF? 103
Billy G. 104
Jerry Lewis Goes Bowling 106
Church Alleys 109
The Stuff of Dreamer 110
Beware the Count! 113
The Buds Shoot 3858 116
Gibby’s Big Jackpot 120
Bowling’s Defining Moment 124
Time for a Bowling Postage Stamp? 130
I Remember Billy Welu 132
The First National Tournament 133
Strange Inventions 138
Dick Weber, R.I.P. 139
Candy Mac 141
The Baseball-Bowling Connection 144
The Buzzer 147
Unusual Injuries 150
The Quiet Man 151
Pioneer Don Scott 154
The Hitchhikers 156
The Greatest Action Match 157
The Fred Wolf Story 159
Big Steve 161
Johnny Small’s Magic Ball 163
Two Secure Records 164
Movie Star Bowler 166
A Christmas Story 169
Who Was Ned Day? 170
Ed Lubanski’s Double 300 174
Andy Varipapa Stories 176
Earl Breaks Through 178
The Petersen Classic Turns 100 181
All Hail, Lady L! 184
The Bowling Ball That Went Around the World 189
Even More Things I Learned While Looking Up Other Things 191
In Search of Johnny King 193
A Different Path 196
Uncle Joe 198
Bowler’s Symphony 199
Chief Halftown 201
The Schalk Team Tournament 203
Billy Hardwick, R.I.P. 204
The Longest Longshots 206
The Man in the Picture 208
Allie and Orf and Allison and Some Others 210
The National Bowling League 212
Billy Durant’s Bowling Fling 219
The Shanghai Bowling Congress 221
The Pleasure of His Company 222
Undefeated Champion 225
Index 227
