The videos below are the earliest ones on YouTube that feature Earl Anthony, as far as I can determine. (It's in black and white, even though the show was filmed in color at this time!)
This is the final match of the BPAA US Open, which took place in the of New York's Madison Square Garden. The announcers were Chris Schenkel and bowler Billy Welu as the "color man."
Both Earl Anthony and Mike McGrath were left-handers. McGrath had an unusual timing device, as you'll see. He'd turn his right foot 90 degrees in relationship to his left foot. That's got to be hard to do!
At this time, Earl is 35, having been born in 1938. This is his second full-time year on the Pro Bowler's Tour.
If you listen to the commentary, Earl had been having problems with one of his knees (which one isn't specified!). As the tournament leader, he only had to bowl one game - the championship game.
And ... spoiler....
He does lose. (He won $4,000 for coming in second, Mike McGrath won $7,000.)
Earl was in command the entire way but unfortunately opened the door in the ninth ("foundation") frame when he "opened" (left a seven-pin and missed the spare.)
Earl was the winningest bowler in history when he retired, and it was a record which stood for many years until Walter Ray Williams surpassed him (taking twice as many years to do so, however!). Earl also came in second as many times as he came in first!
.
Disclaimer All the videos I share here of classic bowling are hosted at YouTube, uploaded by several bowling enthusiasts and by the courtesy of the entities involved. They do not belong to me and I claim no copyright for them.
Here's the earliest footage of Earl Anthony available on YouTube. He loses in the first round of the televised final of the 1971 Ebonite to Skee Foremsky.
The tournament took place from Feb 2-6, 1971 at Saratoga Lanes in San Jose, California. This was the first time that all 16 of the TV finalists were left-handers!
From the PBA website, tournament archives section: TELEVISED FINALS Pos. Name, City/State Total Amount
1 Larry Lichstein, Windsor Locks, Conn. 437 (2 games) $10,000
2 Dave Davis, Miami, Fla. 227 (1 game) 6,000
3 Skee Foremsky, Houston, Tex. 417 (2 games) 4,000
4 Earl Anthony, Tacoma, Wash. 460 (2 games) 3,500
5 John Petraglia, Brooklyn, N.Y. 205 (1 game) 3,000
PLAYOFF RESULTS-Anthony defeated Petraglia, 265-205; Foremsky defeated Anthony, 223-195; Lichstein defeated Foremsky, 203-194; and in the championship game, Lichstein defeated Davis, 234-227.
40-GAME TOTALS Name, City/State Pins WLT + Tot Amt
1 Dave Davis, Miami, Fla. 9107 12-4-0 600 9707
2 Larry Lichstein, Windsor Locks, Conn. 8919 11-5-0 550 9469
3 Skee Foremsky, Houston, Tex. 8948 10-6-0 500 9448
4 Earl Anthony, Tacoma, Wash. 8822 11-5-0 550 9372
5 John Petraglia, Brooklyn, N.Y. 8798 11-5-0 550 9348
*6 Mike McGrath, El Cerrito, Cal. 8790 8-8-0 400 9190 $2,550
7 Don Glover, Bakersfield, Cal. 8679 9-7-0 450 9129 2,200
8 Butch Gearhart, Houston, Tex. 8700 8-8-0 400 9100 1,900
9 Ed Dolfay, Everett, Wash. 8747 5-11-0 250 8997 1,700
**10 Dan Baudoin, Belmont, Cal. 8738 5-11-0 250 8988 1,600
11 Jim Chestney, Detroit, Mich. 8594 7-9-0 350 8944 1,500
12 Tom Long, Los Angeles, Cal. 8642 6-10-0 300 8942 1,400
13 Ross Packard, San Jose, Cal. 8669 5-11-0 250 8919 1,300
14 Dick Battista, Astoria, N.Y. 8517 7-9-0 350 8867 1,200
15 Don Helling, St. Louis, Mo. 8450 8-8-0 400 8850 1,100
16 Wayne Sheridan, Richmond, Va. 8347 5-11-0 250 8597 1,000
24-GAME TOTALS Pos. Name, City/State Total Amount
*17 Nelson Burton Jr., St. Louis, Mo. 5193 $890
18 Billy Hardwick, Louisville, Ky. 5179 790
19 Wayne Zahn, Tempe, Ariz. 5159 740
20 Gary Mage, Seattle, Wash. 5123 690
21 Farriel Hinkle, Los Angeles, Cal. 5107 640
22 Alex Seymore, Kannapolis, N.C. 5102 600
23 Jack Getzen, Lansing Mich. 5084 590
24 Bud Horn, Los Angeles Cal. 5049 580
25 Bobby Knipple Long Beach, CCal. 5048 570
2 Dick Ritger, Hartford, Wisc. 5044 560
27 Don Bell, San Francisco, Cal. 5042 550
28 arry' Asher, Costa Mesa, Cal. 5040 540
29 Ed Bourdase, Fresno, Cal. 5020 530
30 Ernie Schlegel, Newburgh, N.Y. 5015 520
31 Larry Laub, San Francisco, Cal. 5012 510
32 Ron Buckley, Columbus, Ohio 5007 500
33 Dick Weber, St. Louis, Mo. 5003 490
34 Curt Schmidt, Ft. Wayne, Ind. 4996 480
35 Dale Glenn, Los Angeles, Cal. 4987 470
36 Lindy Lundeen, Duluth, Minn. 4975 460
37 Dick Peckham, Schenectady, N.Y. 4961 450
38 Bob Strampe, Detroit, Mich. 4957 440
39 Eddy Patterson, Dallas, Tex. 4949 430
40 Palmer Fallgren, Sacramento, Cal. 4948 420
41 Carmen Salvino, Chicago, Ill. 4985 410
42 Dave Soutar, Gilroy, Cal. 4927 200
Bill Tucker, St. Louis, Mo. 4927 200
On Thursday, March 17, I drove from my hone in Cheyenne, WY to Rapid City, SD (to the Days Inn on 725 Jackson Blvd in West Rapid City, to be precise).
I was rendezvousing there with a travel friend who was coming from Minneapolis, MN. He had a 9-hour drive (which turned out to be less than that because he drives really fast!) and I had a 5-hour drive.
I decided to take my time and stop in at two bowling centers in towns in Wyoming off of I-25 North, the highway I was taking to Rapid City.
The 24-lane bowling center in Cheyenne, 2 Bar Bowl, is open from 10 am to 11 pm or midnight depending on the day. But Cheyenne has 60,000 people. The towns in question had 5,000 people or less, and so the bowling centers are only open for evening hours (except on weekends). But I figured I would go to each bowling center, take photos and get a good lay of the land in preparation for another visit- when I would actually bowl in each center.
Wheatlanes, Wheatland, WY
Wheatlanes in Wheatland, WY on a Thursday morning in mid-March
Another view of the doors to Wheatlanes
Wheatland, Wyoming is a town of about 4,000 people. It's just a little past Chugwater (the town famous for its annual Chugwater Chili Cook-off and for having no gas station as a drunk driver crashed into it some years ago). It's an hour's drive or so from Cheyenne to Wheatland, on I-25N.
The address of the bowling center, Wheatlanes, is 101 16th Street. I plugged this into my GPS and it took me right to the spot, just off of I-25. On the opposite side of 16th street is a Burger King. On this side there was another fast food restaurant...an Arby's I think? (Will double-check on my next visit and amend this entry!)
The bowling center is adjacent to a motel, and I parked in the motel's parking lot as, when I arrived, there was a Budweiser beer truck making a delivery and parked right in front of the doors.
I walked over, saw the sign on the door giving the hours (4 pm to 10 pm except on weekends.) But, because the owner was there to take delivery, the doors were open and she let me come in and have a brief look around the place.
Earl Anthony in his iconic bowling pose
It's a small bowling center - ten lanes I think. (The lights were off and I had time for only a couple of photos before the owner and I got to talking. Too dark to photograph the lanes properly). The owner is a widow, and wishes to sell the bowling center. It's actually got an attached apartment (which I did not see) and if I only had the money.....!
Anyway, this woman was in her seventies at the very least, and she and her husband had bowled for decades. She had known Earl Anthony. So I will be interviewing her in another week or so.
There's a grill, and a bar (which serves more than just Budweiser, obviously) and interesting decor on the walls, or as below, in the window separating the lobby from the lounge/bar.
Stained-glass window of a bowler
After my brief chat, I bade the owner farewell and set out for my next destination in route to Rapid City, SD - Douglas, Wyoming.
