Bronx action

[VNL1]

I am interested to know some of the history of action bowling in the Bronx, NY - specifically action that occured in Van Nest Lanes or Gun Post Lanes.

If there are any "old school" action bowlers who can give some info, I would appreciate hearing it.

Modern day action is more like a "trash talk" contest, instead of actual bowling.

Thank you in advance for the info.

VNL1

[Renaissance Man]

I missed that action but here's a thread with some posts about that area.
================
Big Time Action Houses

What house had the longest run of big time action, who was second & third. How long, and what where the years...Herbie

Oldest action house is probably Homefield in the yonkers area. Daily afternoon action house for probably around forty years. woodhaven lanes in queens maybe number two. action constantly there sat nights from early eighties until early or mid nineties. central lanes in yonkers around from early sixties until it burned down in 1968 biggest of all times, saturday night until sometimes sunday evening. most weekends at least 40 out of the 50 lanes had action. it was incredible, like continuous casino action. bowlers came from all over, as far as Florida looking for action. if you were looking for action no matter how bad you were or how good it was there. once in a lifetime. never again...OldTimer


I disagree. Gun Post had as much or more action than Central but because it got raided all the action moved to Central. There were nights at Gun Post that you couldn't get to the snack bar because it was too crowded. Action on just about every pair and all the big names. Jake Charter, Joel Meyers, Frankie Medici, Ernie, Mike Limengello, Fats and Deacon, RALPH, Howie Polefski, (my favorite) Jack Clemente, Iggy Russo, Chicago Bill, Billy The Kid, Doc Iandoli etc. etc. etc.
If you remember Gun Post, here is a trivia question: What was the name of the manager?
JK...


I was part of the action scene at Ave M Bowl in Brooklyn in the sixties, at that time there were many action houses it was great.

I've been to Central a few times but know nothing about Gun Post, I'd love to hear some more.

What years, what nites, what were some of the big matches, I'm an action freak, to bad it doesn't exsist anymore. All there is now is a bunch of fouled mouthed punks cursing each other.
Big Mouth Billy...


Jk, you are right about GunPost. Don't remember the manager's name but remember sitting down around three am at the counter for a burger next to Pyscho Dave and saying "how you doing". He said he lost $20. Found out he had started with $20, bowled Ralph Engan and beat him about seven straight doubling each game until he was up 1280 bucks and lost the eighth.

Stevie Wonder...


Big Mouth Billy, no I'm not shear. I was from upper Manhattan and had a pro shop on Broadway from 1963-68. The glory days. Spent much time at Central, Gunpost, Yonkers, Inwood(my house), The Hub, Homefield, Skytop, Fiesta, Whitestone, etc.
SW...


Nothing compared to Central. Ask anybody that was there. Whenever the pros were in town, they knew where to go.


Question for Stevie Wonder. Who was the best action bowler you saw?


Ernie Schlegel was the toughest, feared nobody. Also loved Ralph Engan.
But for one year at Central Dewey Blair was incredible, then he dissapeared.
SW...


Steve, what did you think of Jeff Kidda, I thought he had ice water in his veins, the best I ever saw.

Do you know of any bigger backer than Bill Daley.
Big Mouth...


Stevie Wonder. Surprised you forgot about Hornreich and Limongello? Who was better than Hornreich?


The truth is there were so many great action bowleres in the 60's that everyone has their favorites. It's like picking great hitters between Joe DiMaggio And Ted Williams.

Lemon and Horn were two guys I loved seeing.
Daly was the biggest backer for sure.
Big Mouth...


guest big mouth. Were you at central the night dewey whipped Limongello? Heard that lemon was getting whipped so bad, they had to pull him off the lanes.
were you ever at skytop?


I never saw Dewey Blair lose at Central. He beat everybody. But this was all 40 years ago. So don't have any specific memory of Lemon being dragged off the lanes. I do remember guys being tapped out and borrowing money from Max the shylock to stay in the action. That was really crazy since the vig was ten percent a day.

Went to Skytop several times. That was Ralph Engan's home. He and Hank Boroughs were a really tough pair.
SW...


max charged 10 pts. a week, not a day. Did you see the match at skytop when dewie kicked Ralph's ass and quit at 8am to go to school. He was only 16. Dewey quit bowling a fewyears later and joined the navy after he hurt his bowling arm and was never the same again. heard that he bowled in the newsday in the seventies, but was never the same bowler as when he was 16.
Stevie, did you ever see Kenny Barber?


You're right about Max. I knew it was a week. No,didn't see Dewey cream Ralph at Skytop, but I do remember Dewey was only 16-17 when he was around. Thanks for telling me what happened to him. He was a real quiet clean cut kid. Looked out of place with all of us so called low lifes. Am I losing it but didn't Dewey show up at Central the first time with a backer who flashed a gun in his waistband?

Kenny Barber was terriffic and a nice guy too. Did you see Frankie Medici bowl action? He was similar in size to Lemon but not as good. A Bronx kid.

Funny, I haven't thought about all this in many years. I was in my late teens and twenties when it was happening. The best part was not really the money but the laughs and seeing so many great characters who could bowl like demons. All the talk setting up matches and milling around looking for an edge was priceless.
SW...

how about ira the whale katz. i only heard of him ever losing once to steve cook at hempstead. i always heard he was one of the best action bowlers ever from long island
TITS...


the whale was real good, but never in the class of limongello. he did get creamed by steve cook at royal lanes. should never have been on the same pair as this pba hall of famer
Real Smart...


Answers for some questions: The other real big backer was the guy that came with Dewey Blair....Steve do you remember his name? The match at Skytop ended at about 6am not 8am and he didn't destroy Ralph I think he came up 2 games. But your right he did destroy Mike L. and Ernie and everyone else he bowled during that short period of time. For my money the best I ever saw and I would put Jeff Kidder 2nd.
See you Friday Steve.
JK...


OK some more answers: The managers name at Gun Post was "SKI".....remember now?
For the guy who asked about Gun Post:
48 lanes on 2 levels. Sat. night after 1 am there was action on every pair (no open play bowlers ever) There were crap games in the mens room AND ladies room,card games at the tables etc. Usually there were no women in the house except for Psycho Dave's girlfriend. Oh by the way Steve I bowled psycho Dave once after he came from a wedding. He bowled in his tux and I wrecked him. I was told that he used to send his girlfriend out to the car to have sex with guys so he could have more money to bet. Not sure if that's true or not. But the best part about Gun Post was Howie Polefski. Great bowler and the funniest guy on the planet. I was there the first time it got raided and they took Ernie and Mike Ginsberg and a bunch of other guys (including Ski) and then they ripped the scoretable out to have evidence of the gambling. It seems all the names of the guys betting in the middle were written on the scoretable. I miss those days!!!
JK...

[Renaissance Man]

Last I heard Dewey Blair was bowling in a house in Newberg NY (where he lives) and was bowling 3 games a week and averaging about 216. That was about 6 years ago. I was told he is an architect today. You're right Steve he had a lot more class then the rest of us.
JK...


JK, I do remember Ski. More about Gun Post. Mike Ginsberg was upstairs betting around 7am one morning. All of a sudden his Father shows up and says "So these are the bums you hang out with" tells Mike they are leaving for vacation and he should go down to the car. He says "no, I'm staying here". The father goes out to the car and throws Mike's clothes in the street and drives away.Everyone was upstairs looking out the window. Mike just ignored it all.

We all thought Pyscho Dave was a pimp.

I was there when it got raided also. Funny because they unscewed the score table with all the bets wriiten on it and took away the kid keeping score.

After that incident the action started big time at Central.
SW...


I remember Kenny Barber from Kings Lanes on Flatbush ave. I threw a real big ball for the time, was a lot of fun to watch, who rembers the Dwoskin brothers, Lenny the cane and his con artist brother who served time in Texas
Old Brooklyn Action Bowler...


buffalo is out of the slam after 5 years on probation, lives not far from ft. lauderdale and fries burgers for a living. Were you old timers at seaview? did anybody witness the iggy heart attack match? And it's hard to believe you guys felt dewey was the best and not hornreich. from what the horn said, dewey was great but was not that good of an inside shooter. And ironically, schlegel was from newburgh while bowling the action in the 60s.


Never heard of Seaview where was it? I did not witnes the fake heart attack but it was THE topic of discussion for years afterward. OK here's the deal........Richie Hornreich was a great action shooter one of the best ever. Richie played inside everywhere almost never played outside atleast not when I watched him so how are we to know if he could play outside Dewey was either outside or down and in if he had to play 3rd arrow he would have gotten nose bleeds. Two very different games both great bowlers but for that period of a year or so NOBODY and I mean NOBODY beat Dewey. You could watch him bowl 10 games and never see him shoot anything other than a one pin spare usually the 4 pin. I'm sure the reason was he wanted every ball to be packed so of course he would leave more 4 pins than 10 pins. I'm sorry you never got to see him bowl it was a thing of beauty. Oh by the way spoke to a friend of mine in Fishkill today and he told me that Dewey started a league last year at Fishkill Lanes was averaging 228 and quit after 6 weeks because he didn't like the shot. ( must have been inside) Ha!
Later
JK...


Ernie Schlegel didn't move to Newburgh until the very late 60's or even later. He lived in my neighborhood(Inwood) in upper Manhattan. Another memory. Ernie and I went to a small old house in the Bronx named Boston Road Lanes. He bowled a cab driver named Sy Million. Sy broke us and had to drive us home in his cab

Inside, outside, all I know is Dewey Blair was inhuman and never lost to anybody. He was a machine.

JK, bring pictures.

Anybody bowl action at Whitestone? That was a real good house with all the regulars.
SW...


ernie was a resident of newburgh when central was at it's biggest in 1967. so the question has been answered. The horn was better, since he could play any part of the lane, from the gutter(leader lanes in brooklyn) through the fourth diamond-which not many could in those days(lemon could and naturally ralph who could hook the whole lane). seaview located in canarsie. seaview and colony and avenue m also in brooklyn were the biggest in the very early sixties. philly marino was the king at seaview and colony.


Buffalo is alive and working the snack bar at sawgrass lanes in sawgrass florida. His brother the cane got hitched again a few years ago, lives not far from Sawgrass and disappeared from the game two years ago. his site has been empty that long. nobody had a better memory for stories than him, from iggy to horn to lemon, etc. Too bad the old days disappeared. nobody needed a lock and the sailors were always there, seven, eight, nine down and still bowling as long as they had cash. CENTRAL was awesome. If you were winning you could win a ton. if you were stuck, there was always a match to get you out. Why did it have to burn down?
Real Smart...


Some facts about Richie Hornreich, so much talent but being a degenerate gambler was his downfall(horses, casinos, etc, etc, etc). Could have been a great pba bowler.
1. at the age of 16 finished 10TH in the world invitational in chicago against the best around(carter, weber, etc.)
2. averaged 217, unheard of in those days at bedford bowl.
3. first to average 200(206) at the toughest alley in the east, bowlmor
4. won the vargo one year, 4 lb. wood, with a 1060 or 1080 for 5.
5. destroyed jim godman, pbahof at central in 1967 after he had just won the firestone.
6 etc, etc, etc
ExDegenerate...


I can't believe Lenny went back into the frying pan. After that first marriage was finally over and Lenny started leading a real life in Florida, making money, doing what he wanted when he wanted, living the life he deserved to live how did he get sucked in again, I really thought he was to smart to be trapped like a rat.

I don't know his new wife but I'll give ya 10 to 1 odds Lenny is saying to himself, what a schmuck I was, how did I fall for this shit, just about all women are demanding and demeaning, I bet she is totally controlling him because unlike his brother Buffalo, Lennys a nice guy.

I feel so bad for him, what a shame, woman are also very abusive in their own way, I hope for Lenny's sake that at least there's only her and she didn't bring a whole family into the mix for Lenny to suppoert.

Lenny, WHY?
Give Me A Break...


What the hell does Lenny getting married have to do with this topic. Whoever you are, didn't you have a mother? Get a life.

Now let's get back to all the great people and action stories.
SW...


The cane did marry again with luggage. he had many problems in the beginning and was ready to pack it in. She was abusive. Apparently, they worked it out because he seems to be happy. However, she did take him away from the one thing he loved, bowling and action. Hopefully, since has now hibernated, we will hear more stories.
ExDegenerate...


How did the Horn do playing the gutter?? I know I saw Richie get beat but I never saw Dewey get beat so I still disagree about who was better. If you never saw Dewey you really can't comment. Any of you oldtimers who saw both of them give us a vote. Another great inside shooter before central was a guy named Frankie Medici out of Tremont Lanes in the Bronx. I have a great beeper story but I'll save it for another time.
JK...


Saw Joey Berardi at his father's funeral about a month ago. He is living in Staten Island and sells MRI equipment. He said he has his own company. Another great talent (like the Horn) who had a big gambling problem.
JK...

[Harry the Horse]

Reply to Renaissance Man: Psycho Dave was actually not a pimp. He just lived off women. He was a nice looking guy, and he would tell women he loved them, sleep with them, and they would give him money. He called himself Dave Blank, but his real name was Dave Blankenstein. We were really good friends in those days. We could both shoot left handed almost as well as right, and when some fish walked in, we would casually bowl against each other left handed, and eventually reel them in, until some big money came on the line. Then we would turn around and bowl right handed. We had to be careful about who we did that to, because it could be dangerous.

I can't remember the name of our house, (does anyone? It was on Macombs Road, just off Jerome Avenue) There was plenty of action there, but Gunpost Lanes was the real place. We didn't have the greatest bunch of bowlers, but we had the greatest roster of characters anywhere, straight out of Damon Runyon. Including me, we were Harry the Horse, Psycho Dave, Lenny the Loser, Checkbook Al, Waldo the Professor, Harvey the Baker, and I can't remember who else. Al Unger was very good. Al and I got drafted at the same time, and spent Basic Training together.

One day Pyscho Dave challenged Frank Medici, who was a phenomenal bowler, to shoot only ten pins. Frank never missed a ten pin, so they put up some money. Frank's jaw dropped when Psycho Dave stepped up to the line and simply shot them left handed! I recall it went on forever with nobody missing, and I can't recall if anyone actually won. They probably both agreed to call it off.

In answer to the original question about Bronx action bowlers, I can only give some distant memories. Ernie Schlegel was never as good as the top bowlers. Ralph and Lemon were terrific, and I think they both were briefly on the PBA Tour, but I'm not sure. Joel Myers used to bowl in a little dark house - Boston Road Lanes. He was great, but inconsistent. Iggy Russo came down there one night, carrying a long bag with five or six balls in it. He would test out the lanes, and then come up with whichever ball was just right for those particular lanes. What a great idea! He was very good, but not as good as the real top bowlers. Howie Palefski was deadly, but left too many ten pins. Every single time he saw me he would tell me I looked like Chris Schenkel. He was one of the few action bowlers who was really intelligent.

Ah, those were the days!

[SueS]

Harry the Horse:

The bowling center you referred to was All-Star Lanes on Macombs Road. I grew up around the corner on Inwood Avenue. Thanks for bringing back good memories.

[SENIOR CITIZEN]

Well I guess you don't remember much. Ralph won three titles and lemon was on tour for ten years and probably the only bowler voted into the HOF with only 6 titles. Probably because he won two majors in one year. Schlegel was a great action bowler as most know and absolutely better than Ralph in action. Only the Horn and Lemon were better.

[Harry the Horse]

Hi Susie –

Thank you for reminding me of the name of my old house. All-Star Lanes. In view of the fact that I spent most of my life down there, day and night, you would think I'd remember the name, but this was forty years ago.

I still don't know how I happened to stumble onto this website, I wasn't looking for it, and hadn't thought about the old days for many years, but it sure brought back some memories. I have an All-Star Lanes story for you. I mentioned we had some great character names down there: Pyscho Dave, Lenny the Loser, Checkbook Al, etc. We had one guy down there – Mike Bowler. Now the thing is that this was actually his real name! We didn't believe him, until he finally showed us his driver's license. Michael Bowler. Unbelievable. The guy was an incredibly terrific shooter, with one of the smoothest deliveries I have ever seen. He could easily have gone on the tour, but he would never, ever bowl action. Not for a penny. He was just a Citizen who liked to bowl. He would come down two or three nights a week, just bowl six or eight games all by himself, and average in the 230s. Then he would quietly pack up his ball and go home. It was ridiculous. This guy was one of the best bowlers I have ever seen, and all he wanted to do was have some fun bowling. Well one night some guys came down from some house and we were all sitting around. Mike Bowler's name came up because he was there that night. They didn't believe it was his real name. We insisted it was, and we said what's more he can live up to it. Well some trash talk started, and finally we challenged them. Mike was just getting ready to bowl anyway, so he agreed to bowl, because he wasn't putting up a penny, and he didn't care who he bowled. As far as he was concerned he was still just bowling for the fun of it. He basically said something to the effect that "I'm just bowling here, if you guys want to bet, go ahead." So they put up their best guy against Mike for a three game set. We sent in a bundle laughing our heads off, because we knew what Mike could do, and furthermore there was no pressure on him. He couldn't have cared less – as he said, he was just bowling to see how good he could do. He was basically bowling against himself. Well. Mike shoots an EIGHT, and we never saw that bunch again. We offered Mike some money, but he wouldn't take a cent. I guess the moral of the story is that your mother told you to never bowl against a guy whose name is Bowler. Shortly after that, Mike stopped coming down, and we never saw him again.

Harry the Horse

[Harry the Horse]

To Senior Citizen –

Thanks for reminding me about Ralph and Lemon being on the tour. I never said they weren't, by the way. What I said was I thought they were, but I wasn't sure. Right after I posted that I went to check out of curiosity on the PBA site, and naturally found out that they both were on it. By the way, PBA records state that Ralph only won one tournament, not three as you say. Doesn't matter, we know he wasn't as good as Lemon.

I do have to respectfully disagree with you about Ernie. I saw him bowl a lot of times, and maybe I caught him on some bad days, or maybe my memory is faulty after forty years, but although he naturally did his share of winning, I saw him lose an awful lot of times, and sometimes to guys a top action bowler should have beaten easily. I used to be a cab dispatcher in those days, and I had a cab driver friend named Sy, who owned his own cab. Bowled out of tiny dump called Boston Road Lanes. Same place where Joey Meyers, with the ridiculously high back swing used to bowl. One night I saw Sy carry out Ernie, and though Sy was a very good bowler, he certainly was never considered a top action bowler. I also thought at the time that Ernie threw the worst ball of all the top action bowlers. Any Bronx old timers out there are welcome to correct me if you disagree, or agree with me if you feel the same way. Love to hear some feedback.

[Harry the Horse]

To VNL1 -

JK is right. Gun Post was the biggest action house I can remember from the early to middle sixties. You had to be there to believe it. All night long, anywhere you looked, there was action. And with all the big guns.

One of the best matches I ever saw at Gun Post in the sixties was a head to head match between Frank Medici and Howie Palefski. This one had promised to be a great one and it sure lived up to it. Frankie was simply a great, great bowler, and Howie had this nasty habit of burying everything he threw up there. They shot on a pair away from where the big action usually took place. This pair was over in a smaller section on the Gun Hill Road side. There was all kinds of action going on at the time, but this one drew a crowd. Howie and I had become good friends from Pel-Park lanes, but I put my money on Frankie, because you had to be crazy to bet against him. Well. Between them there were more strikes than the Teamster's Union. It was a heavyweight knockdown dragout slugfest. Here is what I remember: they bowled a good number of games, I can't recall how many, but as far as I can recall, every single ball thrown the entire time was either a strike or a ten pin. I can't remember any other leave but a ten pin. The numbers were in the stratosphere. I think that neither one scored a knockout, it went back and forth, and I seem to recall that Frankie came out a little ahead, but not by much. I wonder if anyone else remembers that match.

[HarryBar]

Glad to have you aboard. We have exactly the same background and memories. Especially about Gun Post. It was THE PLACE for sure. If you check back to the earlier posts in this section, you'll see a bunch from JK and Stevie Wonder. That was my name on the board up to last year when I changed it to HarryBar.

I was a friend of both JK and Ernie. Still see him when he comes to the East Coast. He is now past 60 and still on the regional PBA tour. He won one last year and looks great. Check out some pics I took a few months ago in Wilkes Barre, PA. Just click on his picture on the first page.

You will see that I mentioned the night Sy cleaned us out in Boston Road and that Sy had driven us home because we were flat busted.

Ernie never threw a strong ball, his whole game was being consistant and always thinking about winning not being macho. So if he was down a game or two and not confident, he'd quit.

I remeberer Psycho Dave very well and liked him. You will see one of my posts above about him bowling Ralph Engan one night at Gun Post.

We had to know each other.

[Harry the Horse]

To HarryBar –

Thanks for the welcome. I went back and read your story about Psycho Dave. Yes, even though he had just lost $1280, he would look at it as though he only lost $20 because that's all he started with. That was always the way he thought. I was probably closer to Psycho Dave than anyone. We bowled out of the same house and were partners lots of times in other things as well – cards, the track, etc. That's why I wonder if you remember that story right. Dave was a very good bowler, and very consistent too, but he was nowhere near the level of Ralph. I don't think he would have attempted to bowl Ralph at all, but even if he had decided to take a flyer with his $20, figuring that's all he had to lose, it's inconceivable to me that he could possibly have ever beaten Ralph seven games in a row. He might have thrown some big numbers at him for two or three games, but I just can't see him beating Ralph seven straight. Maybe he was just joking, or maybe he said he had BET on Ralph seven straight. Who knows – maybe he lived up to his name and did take Ralph on. I have a couple of good Psycho Dave stories for another time.

Yes, I'm sure we must have known each other back then.

[Harry the Horse]

To VNL1 –

I've been trying to recall some of the Bronx action bowlers I saw and bowled against. I'll try to do them one at a time if that will help you, since you said you were interested in the Bronx. I mentioned Joey Meyers out of Boston Road Lanes. He had the highest backswing in the history of bowling. It enabled him to throw a powerhouse ball for sure, but at the same time it was so much in violation of a proper delivery that it made him erratic. He could shoot big numbers, but I saw him actually miss the head pin plenty of times – in action. You simply don't miss the head pin in action bowling. I wasn't the only one to suggest to him to cut down his backswing for better control, but he wouldn't listen to anyone. He never really got anywhere as an action bowler, though he was known because he could put up some big numbers when he wasn't all over the lane. He used to sometimes bowl with and hang around with a real lowlife named Benny something or other. I can't remember his nickname. (does anyone out there?) Benny could shoot a little, but never against anyone good. Basically, he was just a small time hustler, who would mostly hustle fish, though he was very good at that. I'll give you the lowdown on someone else next time.

[HarryBar]

Was it One Finger Benny Weinstein? He averaged over 180 with one finger in an eight pound ball and got 170 bowlers to spot him 20 pins. Couldn't lose.

[Harry the Horse]

Harry –

Right you are - One Finger Benny. Who the hell can remember these things. I forgot all about that one finger routine of his, but I did say he was good at hustling. He could also shoot normally too, but only so-so. Would never bowl action against any real bowler, but he did hustle lesser bowlers with all kinds of gimmick bets. He used to sometimes be Joel Meyers backer down at Boston Road Lanes. But as I said, Joey was wild, and you never knew what the hell he would shoot. I ALWAYS bet against him, and I don't think I ever once came out losing if the match went on long enough. He would either shoot 268 or 183, depending on whether or not he could find the head pin. Threw more washouts than any action bowler I have ever seen. Why on earth a sharp gambler like Benny would back him, I never could figure, but I always had a sneaking suspicion that Benny actually talked Joey into matches he knew Joey would lose because of his inconsistency, and secretly had more money against him than on him.

[SENIOR CITIZEN]

Ernie threw a full roller but was deadly accurate.He could never play inside of ten because he is blind in one eye. However with today's new equipment and resin balls, Ernie still holds his own. He plays inside with little hook and still throws darts. Richie and lemon at central were the only bowlers better. What I never forgot about Ernie was that he was a scumbag and no matter how good he was, he would have dumped his mom if the money was right. probably can be said for most of the top action bowlers of the sixties, except for Ralph who had too much class and lemon who had too much money and one of the few who would bet 1g out of the box.

[HarryBar]

Senior Citizen:

You were obviously there at Central etc. So was I. You posted the same insulting comment about Ernie last year. He is and was a friend of mine.

He has turned 180 degrees into a really fine adult and family man. He is also a good businessman, teacher and still able at 60 to compete on the tour with guys in their 20's and 30's. He is a member of three different HOF's and you sir, are still calling him names from 40 years ago.
As you said most of the action bowlers were looking for an edge and shaved corners to do it. I agree that Ralph was in a class by himself and by the way so does Ernie.

[Harry the Horse]

Here’s another Psycho Dave story. I made a ton of money partnering with him on this “Reel in the Fish” bet. I don’t know if he invented it, but he introduced it down at All Star Lanes. We would put up $500 to the fish’s $100 that he couldn’t knock down at least one pin blindfolded. They jumped at it, figuring all they had to do was keep it anywhere on the lane. We never once lost a bet. The stipulation was that the guy had to take at least a full four step approach from back near the ball return, and he couldn't foul. Well. Sometimes they would release the ball five feet from the foul line and it would go straight into the gutter, or onto the next lane. And they didn't throw just gutter balls. Sometimes by the time they got near the foul line, they would be facing practically sideways, and they would fire the ball sideways across seven or eight lanes. You never heard a sound like a bowling ball bouncing across gutters. The other thing that would happen was that they couldn’t tell where they were in the release, so sometimes they would wind up flinging the ball up in the air and it would land like a ton of bricks. The manager, a guy named Ray, would plead with us not to do that one, but he never dared to interfere with us during action time late at night.

[Harry the Horse]

I never quite got the Iggy Russo "heart attack" story completely straight. Could someone give me an exact rundown of all the details.

[HarryBar]

I wasn't there but this is the basic story.

Iggy was going to lose a game for big bucks and he couldn't cover it. Suddenly he dropped to the approach and they called an ambulance.

Iggy is carried out. They take off and a few blocks away he jumps out and disappears.

[Harry the Horse]

I have been reading about Falcaro’s on Long Island, but I remember bowling action in the sixties at Falcaro’s in Manhattan, around 125th Street and Broadway. I once bowled a guy they called Snake. Was this the same guy I have read about – Snake Lorenzo? Could somebody tell me what he looked like?

[Harry the Horse]

Okay, here's my story about the time I bowled "The Snake," one of the strangest matches I was ever in. I still can't figure out if this is the same "Snake" I keep reading about or not. This was a black guy who bowled out of Falcaro's, the Falcaro's that was around 125th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Not one person on this web site has said they remember that place, which I can't understand, because there was always plenty of action there in the sixties. Well, one night this "Snake" came up with some other bowlers and backers to my house in the Bronx, All Star Lanes, looking for action. We had heard that he was a terrific bowler, but we could hold our own with anyone, so Psycho Dave and I, and Al Unger, bowled against their three best. We started off with some medium size bets, because we wanted to feel them out, and see just how good they were. Well, the first match these guys were shooting only low deuces, so we killed them. The same exact thing happened the second round - they're averaging low deuces and we're collecting. I pulled Psycho over to the side and I told him that I thought these guys have got to be dumping, no real action bowlers could possibly shoot that low, but if they thought they were "reeling us in" or something, it would have been pretty stupid, because we weren't some kind of fish, we consistently held our own with all the top guns, so if they had been dumping, all they would have been doing was giving us money. Psycho agreed that it looked like they were dumping, because they were shooting such low numbers, but we were both shaking our heads, because it would have been idiotic of them - you only dump against fish, not against real action bowlers. Well, Psycho and I both agreed that we should just cut to the chase and have these guys put up some real money, and see what they could really do. So the third match, the big money went in. What happens. They all bowl basically low deuces again, and we carry them out. Now Psycho and I are looking at each other like "what the hell is going on with these guys?" If they were up to something, I sure as hell couldn't figure out what it could possibly be. The fourth match we sent in as much as their backers would cover, and guess what. Same thing. I think the highest any of them shot was the Snake with a 230s, and the rest more low deuces. We carried them out again. Then all they did was pack up their balls without saying much, and they all left. We're all standing there looking around at each other like "What the hell was that all about." I never saw those guys again, and to this day I have no idea what the hell happened. I guess they thought they were going to beat somebody shooting what they were shooting, but they wouldn't have beaten some good league bowlers with those kind of numbers, so I have no idea how they thought they were going to beat action bowlers. It was all very strange.

[Zoo Master]

The Snake that is talked about on this site is white and from Brooklyn, he bowled big action in the 80s & 90s, the Cane was his backer...

bottom right photo is Snake and the Cane

............................................................Snake & Cane

[Harry the Horse]

Thank you Zoo Master for clearing that up once and for all. This guy I bowled was definitely also called "The Snake," but obviously it wasn't the same guy. He wasn't a half bad shooter, but his friends were rags. If he had been smarter he should have shot head up.

Anyway, does ANYBODY remember Falcaro's at around 125th Street and Broadway in Manhattan from the sixties? It was a real action house in those days.

[Zoo Master]

Saturday afternoon and evening at Falcaro's in Lawrence was the premier action house during the mid 70's and early 80's. Guys came from all over to challenge the house bowlers. The true house action bowlers at Falcaro's were as follows and not necessarily in order of the best.

Tommy "Triple" Yadanza
Bruce "The Dipper" Pastor
Gibby ("The matchmaker") Pastor Sr.
Gibby Pastor Jr.
Barry Clare
Phil Caporusso Jr.
Al ("Ironman") Pinola
John The Pollack
Joe Viverito
Big Al
Julio Curra
John Dugan
Maury Berger
Steve Weiss
Steve Gowa
Paul Katz
Ira Katz ("The Whale")
John Kurkemelis
Steve Reiss
Aaron Goldfedder
Louis Rothman
Michael ("The Sailor") Sperber
Dino Star
Freddy ("The Silver Fox") Mayo
Freddy ("The Ox") Arbolino
Andrew Castardi
Mike Kilgannon
Mike Lemingello
Ray Shell

Anyone who remebers more .....please let me know..

Action Bowlers who came down to Falcaro's during this era to bowl either house bowlers or other bowlers from the region were as follows:

Jeff Kidder
Bill Dailey
Tavie
Joe Cologna
Cliffy Berglund
Tony Devito
Ricky Papandrea
Gino Papandrea
Louis Prisco
Big Earl
Bobby Simonelli Jr.
Hank Behrbom
Snake
Les Shirwindt
Jimmy McCueThe Beeper

[dundee300]

Oct 23, 2003 18:26:37 GMT -5 VNL1 said:

I am interested to know some of the history of action bowling in the Bronx, NY - specifically action that occured in Van Nest Lanes or Gun Post Lanes.

If there are any "old school" action bowlers who can give some info, I would appreciate hearing it.

Modern day action is more like a "trash talk" contest, instead of actual bowling.

Thank you in advance for the info.

VNL1

[dundee300]

Sept 10, 2022 23:38:33 GMT -5 dundee300 said:

Oct 23, 2003 18:26:37 GMT -5 VNL1 said:

I am interested to know some of the history of action bowling in the Bronx, NY - specifically action that occured in Van Nest Lanes or Gun Post Lanes.

If there are any "old school" action bowlers who can give some info, I would appreciate hearing it.

Modern day action is more like a "trash talk" contest, instead of actual bowling.

Thank you in advance for the info.

VNL1

[dundee300]

John Guercio went by the name of Dundee. He was the greatest action bowler in the Bronx from 1940’s until late 1980’s he threw a sanction 300 in a league at age 80. He taught Joe Beradi Jr I had the pleasure of bowling Joe Beradi senior in a Miller life doubles tournament at Pearl River lanes in mid 80’s. I wished him good luck and mentioned that my uncle taught his son how to bowl he threw a fit and said I was a lying piece of shit. I said John Guercio Johnny Dundee didn’t teach your son he apologized. We played the match and I threw an 806 series I was on that day. When we finished he said nice game kid who taught you how to bowl I smiled and said Johnny Dundee is my uncle. So if you are wondering who was the best action bowler in the Bronx back in the day it was Dundee and Joe Hooks Circilo was always right with him. Passed away at 92 coming out of the bowling alley going to his car. The man was legendary

[dundee300]

Feb 18, 2006 20:16:54 GMT -5 Zoo Master said:

Saturday afternoon and evening at Falcaro's in Lawrence was the premier action house during the mid 70's and early 80's. Guys came from all over to challenge the house bowlers. The true house action bowlers at Falcaro's were as follows and not necessarily in order of the best.

Tommy "Triple" Yadanza
Bruce "The Dipper" Pastor
Gibby ("The matchmaker") Pastor Sr.
Gibby Pastor Jr.
Barry Clare
Phil Caporusso Jr.
Al ("Ironman") Pinola
John The Pollack
Joe Viverito
Big Al
Julio Curra
John Dugan
Maury Berger
Steve Weiss
Steve Gowa
Paul Katz
Ira Katz ("The Whale")
John Kurkemelis
Steve Reiss
Aaron Goldfedder
Louis Rothman
Michael ("The Sailor") Sperber
Dino Star
Freddy ("The Silver Fox") Mayo
Freddy ("The Ox") Arbolino
Andrew Castardi
Mike Kilgannon
Mike Lemingello
Ray Shell

Anyone who remebers more .....please let me know..

Action Bowlers who came down to Falcaro's during this era to bowl either house bowlers or other bowlers from the region were as follows:

Jeff Kidder
Bill Dailey
Tavie
Joe Cologna
Cliffy Berglund
Tony Devito
Ricky Papandrea
Gino Papandrea
Louis Prisco
Big Earl
Bobby Simonelli Jr.
Hank Behrbom
Snake
Les Shirwindt
Jimmy McCueThe Beeper

[dundee300]

Sept 10, 2022 23:57:21 GMT -5 dundee300 said:

Feb 18, 2006 20:16:54 GMT -5 Zoo Master said:

Saturday afternoon and evening at Falcaro's in Lawrence was the premier action house during the mid 70's and early 80's. Guys came from all over to challenge the house bowlers. The true house action bowlers at Falcaro's were as follows and not necessarily in order of the best.

Tommy "Triple" Yadanza
Bruce "The Dipper" Pastor
Gibby ("The matchmaker") Pastor Sr.
Gibby Pastor Jr.
Barry Clare
Phil Caporusso Jr.
Al ("Ironman") Pinola
John The Pollack
Joe Viverito
Big Al
Julio Curra
John Dugan
Maury Berger
Steve Weiss
Steve Gowa
Paul Katz
Ira Katz ("The Whale")
John Kurkemelis
Steve Reiss
Aaron Goldfedder
Louis Rothman
Michael ("The Sailor") Sperber
Dino Star
Freddy ("The Silver Fox") Mayo
Freddy ("The Ox") Arbolino
Andrew Castardi
Mike Kilgannon
Mike Lemingello
Ray Shell

Anyone who remebers more .....please let me know..

Action Bowlers who came down to Falcaro's during this era to bowl either house bowlers or other bowlers from the region were as follows:

Jeff Kidder
Bill Dailey
Tavie
Joe Cologna
Cliffy Berglund
Tony Devito
Ricky Papandrea
Gino Papandrea
Louis Prisco
Big Earl
Bobby Simonelli Jr.
Hank Behrbom
Snake
Les Shirwindt
Jimmy McCueThe Beeper

. Johnny Dundee real name John Guercio best action player ever in the Bronx

[dundee300]

Sept 10, 2022 23:39:31 GMT -5 dundee300 said:

Sept 10, 2022 23:38:33 GMT -5 dundee300 said:

my uncle bowled at gun post back in 1940’s to mid 1980’s one of the greatest action bowlers of all times. Johnny Dundee real name John Guercio his best friend was Joe Hooks Circilo Hooks is still around ask him. Dundee passed away at 92 getting in his car after bowling five hours.