This chapter’s information about Billy Hardwick, Bobby Jacks and Curt Schmidt derives from interviews with Len Nicholson, Larry Lichstein, Curt Schmidt, Billy Hardwick, Nelson Burton Jr., and, of course, Ernie Schlegel. Additionally, the following stories also helped: an August 7, 2005 story by Mike Henry for The Bradenton Herald titled “The Billy Hardwick Story: Tragedy and Triumph”; an August, 1964 story by Dick Denny titled “The Boy with the Golden Claw,” an August, 1976 story by Jim Dressel titled “Billy Grows Up,” a December, 1986 story by Lynda Collins titled “The Trials of Bobby Jacks,” and a November, 1983 story titled “Whatever Happened to Curt Schmidt?” all written for Bowlers Journal International; and a June, 1985 story by Wayne Raguse titled “Schmidt ‘Pitched’ the Pins Over” that appeared in Bowling Digest.
CHAPTER 6
THE GORILLAS OF VANCOUVER
This chapter’s stories about Gehrmann’s gorillas derive from in-person interviews I conducted with Gery Gehrmann and Schlegel during a 2009 visit to Vancouver. Schlegel and I met up with Gehrmann at a local bagel shop, where Gehrmann emerged out of the fog like some unsteady vessel and entered through glass double doors that almost seemed too narrow to allow his passage. He waved a leathery hand the size of a catcher’s mitt in recognition of Schlegel. The paper cup he grabbed to fill with coffee reduced to the size of a kiwi in his grip. Anytime Schlegel complained about the grueling nature of the training regimen to which Gehrmann subjected him, Gehrmann would flash Schlegel a look with those beady blue eyes of his and say “I had no sympathy for you then, and I have no sympathy for you now.”
This chapter’s recollections of the 1979 Dutch Masters Open rely on interviews with Schlegel and my observations on a DVD copy of the show I obtained from bowling superfan Keith Kingston. Kingston frequented the now-defunct PBA.com message boards, where I connected with him after hearing he had an extensive collection of archival PBA footage he had recorded over the years. I asked him to send me any recordings of PBA shows on which Schlegel had appeared and he was kind enough to send me the 1979 Dutch Masters Open along with several other shows from the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s.
Other sources for this chapter were Larry Lichstein’s November, 1978 story for Bowlers Journal International, “The Greatest Non-Champion”; Barry McDermott’s December, 1978 story for Sports Illustrated, “Their Prix was 10 Grand”; Jack Rux’s January 23, 1979 Oakland Tribune story, “PBA Cramps Schlegel’s Style”; and an undated story Chuck Pezzano wrote for Bowling magazine titled “Take it from the Pros.”
The material about Mark Roth in this chapter comes from interviews with Mark Roth, Ernie and Cathy Schlegel, and Teata Semiz. Also helpful were PBA.com’s online archives, and a July 18, 2004 story by Martin Fennelly for the Tampa Tribune called “A Legend in the House.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
SHRUGGING OFF THE MONKEY
This chapter’s account of the legendary career of Nelson Burton Jr. and the first PBA Tour title Schlegel won at his expense were gleaned from my interviews with Burton and Schlegel, a copy of the 1980 King Louie Open show sent to me by Kingston, stories from back issues of Bowlers Journal International, and PBA.com’s extensive online archive of past PBA Tour events. I combed over that archive to read about each of the 18 tournaments Burton won in his competitive career, and each helped me unpeel another layer of the man—both as a bowler and as an announcer. Bowlers Journal International stories I found particularly helpful in understanding Burton included an April, 1972 story by Don Snyder called “A Portrait of Determination,” a November, 1965 piece by John J. Archibald titled “A Chip off a Splendid Block,” and a January, 1986 story by Dan Herbst called “Is an Emmy Next for Bowling’s Bo?”
Aside from reading up on Burton, I also had the chance to get to know him a bit myself. I happened to bowl league for a couple years at Stuart Lanes in Stuart, Florida, where I moved after obtaining an MFA in creative writing at The New School in New York City. One day, while practicing at Stuart Lanes, I noticed a guy who looked an awful lot like Burton down on lane three shooting some games with his buddies. I walked up to the woman at the front desk and asked who he was; she confirmed my suspicions. I watched him cruise to a practice score of 264, his arm swing smooth as a mirror. At the time, which was 2004, Burton still maintained a 238 average and had the league’s high series, an 804. In January of 2014, at age 71, Burton broke the record for three-game series in the Friday Morning Match Play League at Jensen Beach Bowl in Jensen Beach, a small town neighboring Stuart. He bowled games of 300, 288 and 290—an 878 series. Obviously, the man still has game.
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE LAST GREAT ACTION MATCH
I have had the opportunity to speak with Randy Pedersen on a number of occasions. I interviewed him for Bowers Journal Interactive in 2013, and I nominated him for the United States Bowling Congress Hall of Fame that same year. The 1995 Touring Players Championship is not an event one just casually discusses with Pedersen. On the rare occasion when that topic did come up between us, I learned that the way things went down that day still irk him to this moment. An October, 1987 Bowling Digest story by John J. Archibald titled “A Mature Winner,” a May, 1986 story by Bob Johnson titled “The Secret Behind Randy’s Work Ethic” and an April, 1989 interview titled “The Amazing Adventures of Captain Happy,” all produced for Bowlers Journal International, also contributed to this chapter’s material on Randy Pedersen. The PBA’s online archives also yielded a lot of information about Pedersen as a bowler and as a man.
The 1995 Touring Players Championship is freely available to view on YouTube. I have watched it probably close to 100 times; I first saw it live the day it aired on ESPN. My interviews with Schlegel added valuable context and insight to the show, enabling me to watch it with new eyes so many years after I saw it for the first time. In addition to watching the show and talking about it with Schlegel, PBA.com’s online archive and stories sent to me by the Schlegels also helped a great deal.
This chapter’s accounts of the televised championship rounds on which Schlegel appeared in the 1980s derive from PBA.com’s online archives and YouTube videos of those shows. Interviews with the Schlegels contributed to the material on John Mazzio. Additionally, a July, 1978 story for Bowlers Journal International by Jim Dressel, “Shrink to the Stars,” also helped. The stories about evolutions in bowling ball technology, and the machinations pros indulged to manipulate their performance, derive from interviews with Len Nicholson, Larry Lichstein, Ernie Schlegel and PBA.com’s online archives.
ILLUSTRATIONS
This is a photo from the 1963 American Bowling Congress National Tournament, now known as the United States Bowling Congress Open Championships. Back in the day, this was the tournament at which to prove yourself. This photo features a young Kenny Barber standing by the ball return on lane 13, about to set up for his next shot. If you glance up at the scoreboard, you can see that Barber has four strikes in a row. Only one other player has strung together that many strikes. Photo courtesy of Kenny Barber/the United States Bowling Congress.
The Schlegels weeks after Ernie won the 1996 Masters. Photo courtesy of Cathy Schlegel.
Schlegel with Toru Nagai, the Japanese restauranteur who drove Schlegel throughout New York City and beyond in his black Cadillac, looking for fish wherever they could be found. Photo courtesy of Cathy Schlegel.
The apartment building on Sickles Street in Inwood where Schlegel grew up. Schlegel’s father, William, the superintendent of the building, would make him sweep those stairs clean every evening before he was allowed to eat dinner. Photo courtesy of Gianmarc Manzione.
Schlegel’s parents, William and Irma. Photo courtesy of Cathy Schlegel.
Schlegel making his debut on national TV as the Bicentennial Kid (ABC network) at Fair Lanes in Towson, Maryland. Photo courtesy of Cathy Schlegel/Professional Bowlers Association.
On the left, a late-career Schlegel bowling on ESPN in the 1990s, striking one of his inimitable poses at the foul line. Photo cour
tesy of the United States Bowling Congress, provided by Cathy Schlegel. On the right, Schlegel snarling en route to victory over Pete Weber at the 1985 Lite Beer Open. Photo courtesy of the Professional Bowlers Association, provided by Cathy Schlegel.
Schlegel celebrated his 70th birthday by—what else?—winning a poker tournament for $300. This is a shot of him at the poker table after the win. Bertha Krieg and Nat Rook are seated with Ernie at the Pheonix Casino in the Last Frontier Poker Room. Photo courtesy of Cathy Schlegel and Ben Tracy.
This photo captures the euphoric moment when Schlegel finally put 12 years of hard luck and hope behind him by winning his first Professional Bowlers Association title in 1980 at the King Louie Open against the great Bo Burton Jr., himself a legendary action bowler. Seconds after this photo was shot, Schlegel’s wife threw him a stuffed monkey. He kissed it and threw it back. They enjoyed that monkey-off-his-back imagery. Photo courtesy of Cathy Schlegel/Professional Bowlers Association.
Schlegel bowling another telecast on ABC in 1983 at Garden City Bowl in Long Island. This shot captures Schlegel’s unique intensity. Photo courtesy of Cathy Schlegel/Professional Bowlers Association.
The late, great Kenny Barber. Barber was one of the greatest bowlers—and greatest performers—in the history of action bowling. Photo courtesy of Kenny Barber.
This photo features Larry Lichstein, who was one of a very few people to clean out Kenny Barber in an action match at Central Lanes in Yonkers to the tune of $6,000 one night back in the mid-1960s. Larry says he knew from that night forward that he had found the thing he would do for the rest of his life. He even went on to become Rookie of the Year on the PBA Tour in 1969. Photo courtesy of Luby Publishing.
Side of the building that once housed Manhattan Lanes, Schlegel’s home house as a kid. This is the sidewalk where the bloody brawl between Schlegel and Ginsberg ensued in 1962. Photo courtesy of Gianmarc Manzione.
The Schlegels renewing their wedding vows on their 10th anniversary in 1985. Photo courtesy of Cathy Schlegel.
One of the most devastating action bowlers—and an insatiable gambler—Richie Hornreich (left) accepting the first-place prize for winning the 12th Annual Vargo Classic in 1968. On rainy days, Hornreich would take bets on which raindrop would slide down the windows the fastest at Bay Ridge Lanes in Brooklyn. Standing next to Hornreich, on the right, is John Vargo, the tournament’s namesake and the man who ensured his pins would be harder to knock over by filling them with lead. Photo courtesy of United States Bowling Congress.
Schlegel liked to wear vibrant colors on television. He called it “color therapy.” The more aggressive the colors in his clothes were, the more aggressively he believed he would bowl. Whatever works, right? This particular photo was taken at the 1983 American Bowling Congress Masters, now a “major” on the PBA Tour. Ernie won the Masters in 1996 at age 53. To this day, he remains the oldest player ever to win a major on the PBA Tour. Photo courtesy of Luby Publishing.
Illustration from the June 1979 issue of Oui magazine. Some items of note: The Muhammad Ali poster left of the mirror is an allusion to Schlegel’s admiration for Ali, his idol. You see a small photo of Cathy, Schlegel’s wife, to the lower-right of the mirror. You also see Schlegel’s Bicentennial Kid costume slung over the back of a chair, and Schlegel’s colorful bowling bag, designed by his wife. You also see Schlegel wearing his then-trademark white pants dotted with silver stars from hip to ankle, and his patented aviator shades. Additionally, you see a portrait of Evel Knievel in the upper-left. That’s the person who inspired Schlegel’s Bicentennial Kid gimmick. Illustration courtesy of Frans Evenhuis.
This photo captures Steve Harris meeting up with Schlegel at a pro bowling event nearly half-a-century removed from their days as two of New York City’s preeminent bowling hustlers. They both have done quite well for themselves since their days on the streets. Photo courtesy of Steve Harris.
The chicken shack that currently occupies the site of Steve Harris’s old pro shop at 4840 Broadway on the corner of Broadway and Academy in upper Manhattan. Photo courtesy of Gianmarc Manzione.
In 2014, Ernie Schlegel joined the 40-year participation club at the prestigious United States Bowling Congress Open Championships, a tournament that has been running for more than 100 years. Photo courtesy of the United States Bowling Congress.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Manzione is one of the world’s foremost action bowling historians, and a lifelong bowler himself. He has written on the subject of bowling for all of the bowling industry’s highest-profile publications, including BOWL.com, PBA.com, Bowlers Journal International, Bowling This Month, and Bowling Digital. His writing also has appeared in The New York Times, The Paris Review, The Southern Review, The Southeast Review, and many other publications. In 2004, he obtained and MFA in creative writing with a concentration in poetry at The New School in New York City. His first book, This Brevity, was a poetry collection published by Parsifal Press in 2006. He currently is Editor of Bowlers Journal International, the oldest monthly sports magazine in the country. Previously, Manzione taught English and creative writing at the College of Central Florida, the University of Tampa and the University of South Florida. He lives near Tampa with his wife, Brittni, and his daughter, Ellianna.
PIN ACTION
Pegasus Books LLC
80 Broad Street, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10004
Copyright © 2014 by Gianmarc Manzione
First Pegasus Books edition December 2014
Interior design by Maria Fernandez
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers, who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review in a newspaper, magazine, or electronic publication; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher.
Grateful acknowledgment is made to Luby Publishing, the United States Bowling Congress, the Professional Bowlers Association, Cathy and Ernie Schlegel, Steve Harris, Kenny Barber, and Frans Evenhuis for providing the photos and illustrations that appear in this book.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
ISBN: 978-1-60598-645-6
ISBN: 978-1-60598-715-6 (e-book)
Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company
Pin Action: Small-Time Gangsters, High-Stakes Gambling, and the Teenage Hustler Who Became a Bowling Champion Page 22