Earl Anthony

Earl Anthony
Born Earl Roderick Anthony
(1938-04-27)April 27, 1938
Tacoma, Washington
Died August 14, 2001(2001-08-14) (aged 63)
New Berlin, Wisconsin
Other names Earl the Pearl, Square Earl, The Doomsday Stroking Machine
Occupation Ten Pin Bowler, Bowling Broadcaster
Years active 1963–97
Spouse(s) Susie

Earl Roderick Anthony (April 27, 1938 – August 14, 2001) was a left-handed American professional bowler who amassed records of 43 titles and six Player of the Year awards on the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) Tour. For over two decades, his career title count was listed as 41. The count was amended to 43 in 2008, when the PBA chose to retroactively award PBA titles for ABC Masters championships if won by a PBA member at the time.[1] He is widely credited (along with Dick Weber) for having increased bowling's popularity in the United States. He was the first bowler to earn over $100,000 in a season (1975), and the first to reach $1,000,000 in lifetime PBA earnings (1982). His ten professional major titles—six PBA National Championships, two Firestone Tournament of Champions titles, and two ABC Masters (now USBC Masters) titles—are tied with Pete Weber for the most by any bowler.[2][3]

Never brash or flashy in a crew-cut and plastic-frame "marshwood" style eyewear (which he abandoned for more modern frames later in his career), Anthony was dubbed "Square Earl" by fellow pro bowlers.[4]

PBA career

Anthony's first of his 43 PBA titles came on June 7, 1970 by defeating Allie Clarke at the Heidelberg Open in Seattle, Washington. His final PBA title was a major — the 1983 Toledo Trust PBA National Championship. Six of his titles were achieved by a pair of improbable "three-peats" in the PBA National Championship, the first three from 1973–75 and the other three from 1981-83. Earl also finished runner-up to fellow lefty Mike Aulby in the 1979 PBA National Championship.

After a nine-month layoff, he came out of retirement and won his second ABC Masters tournament in 1984, which at the time was not part of the PBA tour.[5] Anthony had also won the Masters in 1977. The PBA later added ABC Masters titles as PBA titles, giving Anthony at least one PBA title in 15 consecutive seasons (1970–84). He joined the Senior Tour in 1988 and accumulated another seven titles there.[4]

By 1988 Anthony had 25 career 300 games.[6] Sadly, not one was on television in the United States; he did, however, bowl 2 televised 299 games, leaving a solid 9-pin on the last shot in one and a 6 pin on the other. Although he didn't drop to the floor like Don Johnson, Anthony would remark on a PBA telecast years later, "to this day, I can't believe that pin stood." Earl Anthony did shoot a televised 300 game on national TV in a PBA Tournament in Japan in front of over 50 Million Viewers.

Photo of Earl Anthony holding trophy for shooting 300 on live TV in Japan PBA Tournament

After retiring, Anthony moved to the broadcast booth as a color commentator[7] and operated a bowling center in Dublin, California.[4]

Personal life

Anthony was born in Tacoma, Washington. He was a minor league baseball pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles organization before his days as a professional bowler. He was also an excellent golfer, achieving a near-scratch handicap at the age of 60. He once set the course record at Crow Canyon Country Club in Danville, California with a scratch score of 64.

Signed and attested scratch 64 golf score by Earl Anthony
Signed and attested scratch 64 golf score by Earl Anthony

He was married to Susie Anthony; and had a son, Mike, and two daughters, Tracy Nelson and Jeri Voyles.[8]

Earl Anthony died in 2001, succumbing to head injuries suffered after falling down a flight of stairs at his friend Ed Baur's home in New Berlin, Wisconsin. He was 63 years old.[4][9]

The "Earl Anthony Memorial Scholarship Fund" was established through funding by the ABC Championship Tournament, in order to provide scholarships to young bowlers. It is now administrated by the Bowling Foundation.

In January 2002, the PBA began the year with a tournament named after Anthony, "The Earl Anthony Memorial Classic." It was first held at TechCity Bowl in Kirkland, Washington. It was won by left-handed pro bowler Parker Bohn III, who beat Patrick Healey, Jr. in the final match 235 to 215. It later moved to Medford, Oregon and re-titled as "The Earl Anthony Medford Classic." In 2010 and 2011, the event took place in Dublin, California and was titled the Earl Anthony Memorial.

Legacy

Anthony was voted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1981 and the ABC Hall of Fame in 1986.[10] In 2000 he was voted "Master of the Millennium" by a wide margin in a nationwide vote conducted by Bowling Magazine.[11] In a Sports Illustrated Magazine national vote he was named the 2nd Greatest Athlete in the history of the state of Washington (behind only former NBA star John Stockton).[12]

The late bowling legend Dick Weber dubbed Anthony "the greatest speed-control bowler ever."[4] When Anthony won the 1978 Tournament of Champions to become the first bowler to ever reach 30 titles, Weber was in the broadcast booth and proclaimed Anthony to be "the undisputed King of Bowling."[13] Earl's record of 41 titles stood for 23 years before it was broken by Walter Ray Williams Jr. in 2006,[14] though it increased to 43 in 2008 when the PBA started including ABC Masters titles if they were won by a PBA member.[15]

In 2008, the PBA celebrated fifty years in existence by commissioning a panel of experts to rank the "50 Greatest Bowlers of the Last 50 Years." Anthony was ranked #1 on the list over Williams, despite the fact that Williams had broken many of Anthony's records. However, Williams himself said, "I feel Earl's record is better than mine because it was more condensed. Earl bowled 14 years and 400 or so events. I’ve bowled well over 600 by now, maybe 700."[16] Williams also added, "When Earl Anthony retired, he didn't have anyone to push him. He probably would have kept going to 50 if that were the case. It's hard to say what would've happened then."[17]

Awards and recognition

References

  1. ↑ All-time title leaders at www.pba.com
  2. ↑ Goldstein, Richard (16 August 2001). "Earl Anthony, 63, Bowling's First $1 Million Man, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  3. ↑ "PBA Hall of Fame: Earl Anthony". Professional Bowlers Association. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Goldstein.
  5. ↑ Clark, Tom (15 August 2001). "Bowling legend Anthony dies at 63". USA Today. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  6. 1 2 "ESPN". ESPN.
  7. ↑ Jakubowski, MIke. "Earl the Pearl". Professional Bowlers Association. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  8. ↑ Earl Anthony, 63, Bowling's First $1 Million Man, Dies New York Times, 8/16/2001
  9. ↑ "Earl Anthony, 63, Bowling's First $1 Million Man, Dies". Richard Goldstein. 16 August 2001.
  10. ↑ "Hall of Famers - USBC". Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on September 25, 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  11. ↑ "Who's No. 1? PBA to name its Greatest Player Ever on Sunday". bowlingdigital.com. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  12. ↑ "Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  13. ↑ Thomas, Jason. "Top 10 Moments in T of C History." Article at www.pba.com on August 16, 2010.
  14. ↑ "PBA Hall of Fame: Earl Anthony"
  15. ↑ "PBA to grandfather Masters, BPAA All-Star Titles". bowlingdigital.com. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  16. ↑ "Experts Select Earl Anthony as Greatest Player in PBA History". Professional Bowlers Association. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  17. ↑ "The Jordan of ... Bowling." Article in ESPN the Magazine on March 26, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Earl Anthony's Dublin Bowl". earlanthonysdublinbowl.com.

External links

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