Some Of The Great Action Posts

[Billy Tops]

Some of the great posts to this board in days gone by...
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Greatest Jersey Action Bowler's

My opinion,best ever from New Jersey was Ed Ditolla. He made tv in the seventies. Dennis Jacques and Craig Mueller were very good. Petraglia is from New York and was never that good in action. Gualtieri who has been around forever was an excellent action bowler but never as good as Ditolla in his prime.I'm sure most do not remember Ditolla but in the mid sixties he averaged in the two teens in league play, not many did so. Anybody, know what became of him? ... Anonymous All those guys from jersey thought they were great cause they averaged 2 teens at Paramus. Then they came to Bowlmor, wednesday night Met majors, and got clobbered. they simply were not as good as they thought they were, and stayed at Paramus. Sort of like what goes .. Anonymous

The post mentioning Jersey bowlers at the Bowlmor was totally inaccurate... They bowled at the Bowlmor 2 years.. They won the league the first year they bowled. The team was Mike Brady,Ed Derricks,Paul Petescola, Ed Ditolla and Al Levins. Beating the Belmont Plaza Team.. The next year they did not win. You should really check your facts before posting. I was in the league that same year so I saw it for myself.. They were a great team... Anonymous

Thank you for confirming ditolla. petescola and jimmy mack, timmy's dad also bowled 600 in league play in the early eighties, denied by abc... Anonymous

The jersey Boys NEVER won that league. Belmont Plaza dominated it. If you bowled in that league,as you say, you would know.Belmont had Cusick, Benny, LaBargo,etc... were not beaten. and Roth and Johnny P bowled too... Anonymous

That Jersey team did win one of the two years they bowled. Belmont Plaza won numerous crowns in that league.. Since you profess to be such an expert who were the other bowlers on Roths team.... Anonymous

Roth bowled with Pete Klein, Jules something, Ginsberg... I hung out there for years and watched them every week. I saw many greats, near greats, and wanna be greats. And I ask you, besides the 3 mentioned, who were the other two on Belmont plaza, and who was it's non-bowling captain? what team did you bowl with?... Anonymous

You happen to be correct about a couple of things you posted. However Belmont Plaza did not win every year! The rest of Roth team was Pete klein, Joules Lockawitz, Norm Ginsberg, and in some years the 5th bowler was Red Basset or a young Pete Hakim.. Belmont Plaza in 1971 consisted of Mcnevich,Werbeck,Mcmillan,Cusick and Labargo and that was the exact lineup as listed on the telescorer. Ps. I made many of the funeral arrangements for Pete klein. so sometimes people you might imply don't know as much as you think you know ..might know a litle bit more... Anonymous

Did you follow richie hornreich's team, v. loria and sons prior to roth coming into the league. they would have whipped these guys. the great horn, first to ever average a deuce at the dungeon, 206 in 1965 or 1966. also shot rare 300 there. the horn also averaged 217 at bedford bowl in the early sixties, unheard of in the tough days. what a waste of talent. more money at the track for richie, his downfall... Anonymous

You are correct, Belmont Plaza did not win every year, it just seemed that way. Benny on top and Labargo on the bottom were as tough as you would find in that house.Which team did you bowl for? And didn't Al Levins bowl with Lou Marks, Bert Goodman,et al?Wow, I haven't thought about this for years, what great talent there was... Anonymous

Pete Klein pretty good action bowler. Passed away last year. rest in peace, brother ... Anonymous

I think you are mistaking league, tournament bowlers and pot bowlers with action bowlers....Jacques,Mueller and Ditolla were terrific in the first 3 catagories but never really bowled alot of action.... Ray Anderson,Bob Perry and Mike DeRose were a few of the best Jersey action players I saw... Believe it or not when ever Mike Brady came to the action un NY he did very well. He seemed to have that great " I don't give a crap attitude" which seemed to translate to his game and he seemed unaffected by pressure. I wished he would have bowled more action than he did. Oscar Pickenheim also did very well in action for a long period of time. A couple of Ray Anderson's companions were also terrific action bowlers....Frank Peterson and Dave Torchy...These 3 together were some of the smartest bowling GAMBLERS I had ever seen. If you were lucky enough to beat these guys some Saturday night ..you accomplished something.... Anonymous

Ray Anderson and brady were very good. alot of appearances at central. mike derose and perry excellent action bowlers. frank peterson was amazing. a low 200 bowler who always managed to bowl 185 bowlers. no respect. this was the only man I knew in the late sixties and early seventies that lived off the game. he was good to make 15-20g a year on the lanes. even betting on others, he rarely made a bad bet. this man counted his money more than the lord. two three times a game, he would count his roll. and he never walked in with less than a grand. torchy was hot for awhile. guess you never saw him during a six month period in the early seventies when he lost to everybody in a six month period and disappeared from the game. pickenheim and his cigar and full roller were excellent except whenever he challenged the great Faino at lyons and of course always got whipped... Anonymous

At last!!! Someone agrees with something I posted..Thanks..... Anyway, I did not remember Torchy's cold streak...wow... he must have dropped a bundle during that period.... Peterson was amazing!!! ... Anonymous

You are wrong about mueller and ditolla if you were around central lanes. nobody came to watch... Anonymous

[Billy Tops]

contiued
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Bowlmor-Met Majors

That other post is getting too big, so let me start one here. I seem to remember Dick Battista having an all lefty team one year,maybe Vinny Yettito on it, others I am not sure.I remember Hornreich back then, just a kid, what talent. God only gives it to certain people, and he was one.Hey, you remember a guy named Gene who always remembered your birthday? he was amazing. Not too bad a bowler, either. Bowlmor died when they stopped the landgraf in the eighties. graz castellano shot the house record in the late fifties, 803 or 802. amazing. that has to equate to 900 these days... Anonymous A good buddy of mine won the langraft back in the 80s his name is Bob Matterasso,and he has some great action stories from years ago... John C

Bobby surprised alot of players that year. remember 912 for four. remember mataras as he was known from the action days in the early seventies at raceway and fiesta and of course the best, central in the sixties... Anonymous

Bobby was involved in some big matches from what i am told.its a little before my time.i know he bowled at paramus with tony sperando joe cirillo and the guys.he is pretty well known.he is around 75 now and loves to tell bowling storiesand i love to listen.by the way there is action every day except sunday at bowlerland in the bronx.judge will usually bowl anybody and he bets it up... John C

Judge does bet it up. how many times has billy red crushed him? about seven years ago, judge was real hot, won about 20g in one month. then he became stupid. he lost about 25g on baseball in less than two weeks. guess he forgot, he was betting on others... Anonymous

That sounds like judge, he will never change.Billy red is also a friend of mine,and a very good player.Both are very good bettors. i can imagine the chirping that went on when they bowled each other... John C

Whom have you been watching? both are gentlemen on the lanes. off the lanes, judge does not say much and billy will mop you... Anonymous

I think you might be mistaken about them, i know both of them pretty well and they can both chirp it up. i do agree that they can both be gentelmen but they do not mind chirping it up... John C






Dream Match:

Ralph Engan vs. Mike Limongello (before he changed his name)

Comments: Being from the East Coast, and growing up around bowling in the 60s and 70s, I saw my share of action matches. And although I didn't get up to New York as much as I wanted, I managed to see Ernie Schlegel, Richie Hornreich, Ralph Engan, Fred Lening, Joey Berardi, Jack Winters, Jimmy McHugh, Iggy Russo and some of the other top action stars in action. Remember the fake heart attack when someone was betting both sides and found they couldn't afford to win the match?... or lose it? It was a great and colorful era...Jim Dressel (editor, Bowlers Journal)





What a great website.

While not a big action bowler in terms of money -- I always looked for pot games which you could find in almost every bowling alley in the 70's. My friend Paul Lorefice and I always traveled late at night to watch the great action shooters at lots of houses. I bowled leagues at Parkside, Maple, Mill Basin, the original Gil Hodges, Diplomat, Park Circle, Kenmore (and some I can't remember). I remember George Stillman (always loved his release). I remember the Beeber (can't believe he's mentioned here). I bowled in some Kegler tournaments. The whole atmosphere of bowling alleys was so different. I too watch some of the young talented kids practicing today and can't believe the lack of respect for the game I see. The game is definitely too, too easy today with the conditions and pins and equipment. I averaged 195 at Parkside in the early 70's and was one of the best in that house. 195 today is low bowler in some leagues. Oh well -- it has been great reminiscing about the great action days. I'll keep coming back to this site and will tell all my friends back in Brooklyn about it.~~ Gary Rich




The biggest bettors I have seen or heard of by decade (at least $1,000 a game at times):

1960s-Hornreich, Lemon, Davie May, RC from Florida

1970s-Daley, Kidder

1980S-Daley, David Ozio, Richie and Joe Messina

1990s-Daley, Snake Lorenzo, Billy Red Cowan, Norm Duke ...OldTimer

Article: There was this guy named Jack Weinstein in the 60s who was a 180 at best, although he would get hot every now & then. He would come to Ave M in Brooklyn NY with a pocket full, at least 5 grand or more and willing to loose it, which he did many times, big, big, money in the sixties. Mac, Stoop & Bernie had his number for about 2 years, they lived off of bowling him all kinds of odd ball games. He loved bowling against the big guns from "M" even though he couldnt win. He must of lost at least 100 grand at the lanes. He was related to JW Mays, owner of Mays department stores. For some reason the only one that couldn't get into his pocket was Butch, Jack would bet on him, but not against him, you figure it...Terry