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Post by Louis Capasso on Oct 30, 2004 8:04:38 GMT -5
those were some of my missing in action years , i unfortunately do not know or remember jeff.
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Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Oct 30, 2004 11:20:53 GMT -5
Thanx aanyway lou. Did jeff Leone really exist? Possibly, but the stories about him are exaggerated or not true at all. I was around those years and would have heard about him if he was that good. I believe he was non-existent. Anybody who beat all of those guys would have been known all over, not just in the East. UNTIL SOMEBODY CONFIRMS STUMPS STORIES, THIS GUY SHOULD NOT BE ADDED TO THE LIST OF ACTION BOWLERS, WHICH IS COMPRISED OF ANYBODY WHO BOWLED ACTION. If Rudy confirms he existed or his sponsor, Billy red then Leone should be added.
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Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Oct 30, 2004 11:30:15 GMT -5
Forgot about Lenny the Cane who was around the EAST in those years. He probably knows more about action bowlers since the 60s than anybody else who posts here. If he never heard or saw this guy, then he might has well have been Claude Rains(invisible man).
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stump
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Post by stump on Oct 31, 2004 21:27:40 GMT -5
Whatever u guys want to do is fine , but to say the guy never existed ,,,is a joke you think I would talk about a guy or, how would I be able to make up stories like that,,,,give me a break,,,The best ever in my opinion action bowler from new jersey was JEFF LEONE and if none of you guys never heard of him then shame on you and this site...also add to ur list chris viale ,and willie willis to your list that he beat also at eagle rock...you spelled viale's name wrong he bowled him after the summer classic ,,,viale bowled with chris sole and warren guernesey,,,,,,I tell you what call eagle rock lanes in west orange ask for the manager of the lanes for the last 40years Tony Cerrato and ask him how many guys came in their to bowl Leone ,,and ask him how many beat him ,,,half the guys on your list lost to LEONE in action play....ask any of the guys I mentioned...LOU CAPASSO I think you used to bowl in the kegler tournements if you did you know leone he was one of the best in the whole club,,,SENIOR CITEZEN trust me LEONE was one of the best and should be on this list...His uncle was also an action bowler to ...joe zarra bowl anyone for money he should be on the list to ....he used to beat up on al fusco,bocker welch.lemongello.etc///paladium lanes in orange n.j. was owned by al evangilista...to put guys like rosamilla viale perry jimmy williams wille willis snake lorenzo steve chirella jeff kubasak foti and alot others and not have LEONE on this list is a joke,,,,,,,i could name 10 guys that leone beat that are not on this list that should be on before any of them....pat brannen,craig muller,gordy colletti,dave grimaldi,mitch sachs,charlie delplato...etc///you guys are wrong if you dont add LEONE its a big insult to new jersey action bowlers.....
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Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Nov 5, 2004 12:53:08 GMT -5
joe zarra was good but never beat up on LEMON, only the HORN did. Lemon would have beaten Zarra in the parking lot. Zarra should be added to the list. AGAIN, until somebody else confirms Leone as am action bowler, leave him off the list.
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Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Nov 5, 2004 12:57:53 GMT -5
The best action bowler ever from Jersey was Ed Ditolla whom the stump never mentioned. back in the sixties, this man now passed on averaged in the 2 teens in league play alone, unheard of in those days but accomplished by some others-Horn, Schlegel. LEMON.
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stump
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Post by stump on Nov 5, 2004 17:31:34 GMT -5
Hey rotonda ,,joe was a great bowler and guy,he would bowl anyone and for any amount of money, he beat alot of guys on the east coast he used to bowl at rizzutos and berras,or astro bowl no longer their in clifton also bowled at palladium lanes in orange ,and his last years here before he passed he bowled at eagle rock lanes, he bowled alot of action with a kid by the name of jeff leone the best action bowler in my opinion ever from new jersey, they were very good team together they used to bowl double matches for alot of money and very rarely lost any games,Leone was related to joe they said so he should also be related to you, joes best friend was a guy by the name of paulie smithers from newark,joe paulie and jeff used to golf at hendericks field course in belleville they used to close the course for those guys ,,,i think you know why...he was a big name in a certain family same as Leone....great guy great action bowler him and leone should be on the all time best list i wrote on the other post about them already....the zoomaster of this site should reconize both of them............if you ever run into a kid well now hes 36 or 37 by the name of JEFF LEONE run the other way,first tell him you are related to joe z,,,he should be related to you to,,,later...stump ..reply to the topic on Joe (Z) Zarra
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Post by SENIOR CITIZEN on Nov 5, 2004 21:36:34 GMT -5
Funny how nobody else here has heard of lonely jeff, oops Jeff Leone. When Rudy is here for the tour qualifiers this pba season, we will find out if lonely jeff really existed.
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Post by pbatur on Nov 8, 2004 1:02:04 GMT -5
Zoo,
Just a follow up on my last note...
I would like to nominate my older brother Lou Harris. In the 60s he was the top action bowler at Tremont Lanes, Gun Post and Capri Lanes in the Bronx. I am presently a PBA member, and bowled with many of the HOFers on your site. It is a great site, and brings back a lot of memories. Although I bowled with Mark and Johnny in recent years in nationals and regionals, I bowled in the early 80s with the Snake, Santini, Capasso, Albanese, Laursen, D'Ambrosio, Stein in Staten Island. All the best, Howie Harris
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Post by DiVita on Nov 29, 2004 18:01:30 GMT -5
Dear Lenny Dwoskin,
(I know I was strictly a Brooklyn Bowler but...) I reacently viewed your BAB list, and I'm taken that my name doesn't appear on the list. From 1956-1966 I beat many of the best action bowlers, when the action "was" the action!
I took out Johnny Petraglia, "big" Joe Lyons, Bob Peck, "Moose" Selkroio, "Fat" Bobby Smith, Stoop Green, Bobby Meyers....and so on.
I rarely lost, yet when I lost, I lost hard... remember, in the late 50's you named the hard ringing ten pin after me?
I know your memory might fail you but you must remember the sequence in kings lanes: Jimmy Allen dumps to Burt Goodman... Bobby Smith challanges and destroys Bert Goodman... I then took Bobby Smith 5 and out the following week! it was the second time I destroyed him. I was the best bowler in Kings Lanes!
Do you remember Nostrand Bowl (some time in 1962-64) when I called out the whole world and no one would bowl me there?
and how they had to "fix" the alleys at Rainbow in order to defeat me?
yours truly, Richie DeVita
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Post by Billy Tops on Nov 30, 2004 3:58:25 GMT -5
Welcome Richie, you have been added to our greatest list. I'm sure you have a ton of action stories, if you would submit some of them I'll put them on your own page and link to it from the greatest list.
The best to yea...
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Post by Louis Capasso on Dec 7, 2004 13:00:49 GMT -5
hey richie , its been many years since i have seen you. just to remind you i am that KID lol from maple with the high backswing with that cement truck hitting ball, but yes you deserve to be on the list heard many a story since your days were a little before mine. happy holidays to you and all the bowlers who read these story's of the glory days of bowling.
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rips
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Post by rips on Dec 8, 2004 13:53:58 GMT -5
Hey guys just like to tell you I came across this site and was reading the names on this list, alot I remember bowled with etc. Looks pretty good alot of names I dont agree with , But I read stumps posts, And the kid Jeff Leone did exist and was without a doubt one of the best bowlers I ever saw. Dont know about action never watched him bowl action, But I remember I first saw him in the Union County Majors when he was 17 18 years old. No one at that time turned the bowl more than this kid NO ONE. I also bowled with him in an eastern reg event at echo lanes he was very young. I also bowled against him in the keglers bowling club, and he made the cut every week, and I remember they had a write up in the paper about him as the best kegler bowler from 87 to 88. He used to work with gordy coletti jr .and help ameleto monacelli and his brother rodolfo. So for all you people out there JEFF LEONE did exsist and he was better than many of the bowlers on your list ..Thank You
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Post by Harry the Horse on Jan 6, 2005 10:52:39 GMT -5
If you would like to nominate someone for the action bowlers hall of fame that’s not already on our list ( www.actionbowlers.com/greatest.html ) you can do so on this thread, just let us know the name of the person, when and where he bowled most of his action, and why you feel he belongs on this list. You can also comment about anyone already nominated..
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Post by Harry the Horse on Jan 6, 2005 11:02:54 GMT -5
There is one name I can't believe is not on your list of nominations for Action Bowler's Hall of Fame. That is Frank Medici, from Tremont Lanes in the Bronx. Frank was unbelievable. He didn't know how to throw anything but perfect strikes. When he was on, which was just about all the time, he was simply unbeatable. If he had ever gone on the PBA Tour, he would have made a lot of them look like beginners. I asked him a hundred times why he doesn't turn pro, but he would just give me a shrug. I wonder if anyone knows whatever became of him
Harry the Horse
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Post by pbatur on Jan 6, 2005 13:29:48 GMT -5
Harry,
If you bowled at Tremont, Capri or any of the other older Bronx centers, you probably bowled my brother Lou Harris. Howie Harris
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Post by Harry the Horse on Jan 13, 2005 10:57:56 GMT -5
To Howie Harris –
I don't remember his last name, but I do remember a guy named Lou from Tremont Lanes who was very hard to beat, so that probably was your brother. I used to go to Tremont Lanes a lot. It was on Tremont Avenue between Washington and Park, right next to an old movie theater, the Crotona. I'll briefly tell you something not related to bowling, but related to the Bronx, since that's where you're from. Some schmuck wrote a novel, "Billy Bathgate." This guy tried to tell people he grew up in the Bronx, but I caught him in a lot of BS. He referred to that very movie theater as "The Crotona." But it was owned by the Fox chain, and they called it the "Fox Crotona." But any of us who lived around there always only called it "The Fox." Like "what's playing at the Fox?" He also talked about "the Third Avenue Elevated Line." That one really had me laughing. None of us ever called it anything but "the el." Then he talked about the intersection of "Park Avenue and 177th Street." There is no such place. The street between 176 and 178 on Park Avenue that would normally be 177 is actually Tremont Avenue. That was where Tremont Lanes was. Anyway, to get back to action bowling, if this Lou was your brother, I bowled him only once. It was a three game set for a nice chunk. All I remember is that I shot a seven, and lost. I also saw him beat Frankie Medici, but this was when Frankie was pretty young, and still coming up. Frankie and I grew up right near each other, not far from Tremont Lanes. Later Frankie became King of Tremont Lanes, and he was practically impossible to beat down there.
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Post by pbatur on Jan 13, 2005 11:45:53 GMT -5
Harry,
Thanks for the note. My brother stills bowls up in North Jersey, so I will ask him about the guys you mentioned. Are you still in the Bronx?? We were originally on Burnside and Anthony Ave, if you know where that is. We then moved to Allerton and White Plains Rd, down the street from Pel-Park. a lot of action there. Regards, Howie
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Post by Harry the Horse on Jan 13, 2005 14:48:37 GMT -5
Howie –
You ask me do I know where Burnside and Anthony is? I was born and raised in the Bronx, and know every inch of it. I was living at Tremont and Grand when I met my wife, and she was living at Burnside and University. I did some of my earliest bowling at University Lanes on Jerome just off Fordham. Guy named Chris owned the place. There was one action bowler down there who was just okay, but he was a strong guy and definitely threw the fastest ball I have ever seen in my life. It seemed like it was barely off his hand when it hit. I think his name was Jimmy Coletti.
I spent plenty of time at Pel-Park Lanes. That's where I became friends with Howie Palefski. I have a couple of Pel-Park stories for another time. Do you remember the White Castle at Boston Road and Allerton?
If you ask your brother about Frank Medici, I guarantee you he will second my nomination of Frankie for the Action Bowler HOF.
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Post by HarryBar on Jan 13, 2005 15:42:44 GMT -5
Horse, Chris was Chris Kourabas who also owned my neighborhood house Inwood and Paradise Lanes across the street from the movie and upstairs.
His son John owns Paradise Lanes in Yonkers. It used to be Raceway Lanes. He named it after the Bronx place.
Some of the old University guys are still around like Lloyd Edmonds who is averaging 205 or better. Joe Cirillo has his pro shop there now. Moved up from the old White Plains road location.
They bowl on Wednesday nights, you should stop up. Also pot games on Sunday mornings. About 20-25 people.
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Post by pbatur on Jan 13, 2005 16:28:29 GMT -5
Harry,
I "lived" at that White Castle, and Gino's!!! Howie
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Post by Harry the Horse on Jan 13, 2005 21:19:42 GMT -5
Harry –
I can't believe Joe Cirillo is still around. That sonuvagun has more of my money than anyone. Only it wasn't from outbowling me. Every time I and some of the other guys would have a real bad night, we would drive over to the Highbridge and dump our balls over. Next day we would go back to Joe's place on White Plains Road and buy new ones.
I completely forgot about Paradise Lanes. Right – big windows upstairs across from the movie. Never much action there.
I remembered Chris was Greek, but I couldn't remember his last name. Not a half bad shooter himself. By the way, this was in the days of pinboys. Do you remember a guy at University who used to throw a designed backup ball? He was almost never out of the one two pocket. Would throw that backup ball at ten pins also, but a regular hook at sevens.
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Post by HarryBar on Jan 13, 2005 21:37:42 GMT -5
Chris had his own pinboy "Brownie" who he always used when bowling action or pots. Brownie would trip ten pins for Chris with his foot as the ball hit and nobody ever noticed.
Chris bowled a 300 once and never knew if it was legit or not.
I don't know who you're talking about. I do know that John Mastricola is still around.
A bunch of us are going to Dominick's on Arthur Ave next Wednesday if you still live close by.
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Post by pbatur on Jan 14, 2005 8:53:06 GMT -5
Harry, Harry,
You guys are bringing back some great memories. Do you anyone from Stadium Lanes? I started bowling in league there in the mid 60s (I think the manager was Cy Ross who was also my little league coach). Then I moved to the 'big time" bowling at MSG which was in the very late 60s. I also bowled for De Witt Clinton. I don't visit the Bronx that often as my Mom moved from there to WPB Fla, but oh those Arthur Ave smells !!!!! I am sure you guys remember the Beeper who bowled action at Pel-Park. Also I think there was a guy Dondi Mezzacappa and Lou Panella managed there. All the best, Howie
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Post by HarryBar on Jan 14, 2005 12:51:47 GMT -5
pbatour,
Are you Howie P.? If so you were considered the funniest guy of all time.
I only bowled at Stadium in the early-mid sixties in the Bronx Travel League. It was sponsered by the BBPA.
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Post by Billy Tops on Jan 18, 2005 0:26:58 GMT -5
Harry, Harry, You guys are bringing back some great memories. Do you anyone from Stadium Lanes? I started bowling in league there in the mid 60s (I think the manager was Cy Ross who was also my little league coach). Then I moved to the 'big time" bowling at MSG which was in the very late 60s. I also bowled for De Witt Clinton. I don't visit the Bronx that often as my Mom moved from there to WPB Fla, but oh those Arthur Ave smells !!!!! I am sure you guys remember the Beeper who bowled action at Pel-Park. Also I think there was a guy Dondi Mezzacappa and Lou Panella managed there. All the best, Howie Exactly how good was the Beeper, I saw him bowl a few times in the mid seventies, Butch bowled him once and beat him at I believe Raceway
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SueS
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Post by SueS on Jan 18, 2005 1:19:38 GMT -5
The Beeper was at Homefield Bowl tonight.
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Post by Billy Tops on Jan 21, 2005 2:25:24 GMT -5
does he still bowl action
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SueS
Full Member
Posts: 166
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Post by SueS on Jan 21, 2005 2:38:49 GMT -5
He was just a spectator that night.
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Post by CharliePhantom on Jan 25, 2005 13:55:49 GMT -5
All I can say is Jeff Kitter was the best I ever saw I was an action bowler in the old days I one time sent schlaegel packing after throwing 10 in a row on two seperate lanes. Anyway I am a has been but I know that if Jeff decided to bowl instead of make real money figuring out gambling odds and real estate he would have been a legend in the tri state area. Just ask Bill Daley he was Bill's horse since Jeff was about 15 years old I have seen the two of them make wads of money in a bunch of house's ranging from Pel Park lanes to van nuys to MSG to stadium etc. etc. etc.
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