Bowling before the days of reactive ball technology

[fortheloveofbowling]

Back then I would use plastic and rubber. Does anyone remember Manhattan Rubber/Dick Weber 5 star/3 dot? Then I believe in 81 AMF came out with the Black Angle urethane and that started the modern era (At least in my mind). I would carry three balls back then and still got most of them. I used my 1979 Columbia 300 blue dot for a spare ball until just recently when I got the Roto Grip own it. Steve

Things really changed with urethane but if you could find the right serial numbers on a yellow dot you had the coveted bleeder that really hooked. Another ball that some people don't remember is the columbia sur-d. Just before the abc and pba started taking durometer readings for hardness and the standard was 72 for abc and 75 for pba some of the sur-d balls would read in the low 50's. Let it set in your car in the heat for a while and you really had a sponge! That was right around the time i started bowling so i really never got a chance to take advantage of those but i've heard all the stories. Later on i had yellow dots but never a bleeder. Former pba west region director mike fredericks who lives up in phoenix still has one of the sur-d balls and i've heard it reads really low.

[foreverincamo]

I had the choice between the original Black Hammer and the AMF Black Angle, and I bought the Angle. Faball was a fledgling company and AMF had been around forever and had much better marketing. Their commercials won me over, and it was a very good ball. I carried that and the Ebonite Thunderbolt, then added the Blue Pearl Hammer and that was my earliest arsenal.

[fortheloveofbowling]

I had the choice between the original Black Hammer and the AMF Black Angle, and I bought the Angle. Faball was a fledgling company and AMF had been around forever and had much better marketing. Their commercials won me over, and it was a very good ball. I carried that and the Ebonite Thunderbolt, then added the Blue Pearl Hammer and that was my earliest arsenal.

When that black angle came out it was THE BALL. I read a interview with Larry Lichstein (was basically the pba ball driller for years that traveled with the pba) and he was talking about when that ball came out and the massive amount of those he sold and drilled. I think he did very very well during that time.

[SRB57]

Things really changed with urethane but if you could find the right serial numbers on a yellow dot you had the coveted bleeder that really hooked. Another ball that some people don't remember is the columbia sur-d. Just before the abc and pba started taking durometer readings for hardness and the standard was 72 for abc and 75 for pba some of the sur-d balls would read in the low 50's. Let it set in your car in the heat for a while and you really had a sponge! That was right around the time i started bowling so i really never got a chance to take advantage of those but i've heard all the stories. Later on i had yellow dots but never a bleeder. Former pba west region director mike fredericks who lives up in phoenix still has one of the sur-d balls and i've heard it reads really low.

I believe the serial number of some of the bleeders started with 9R and believe I have one of the later bleeders 1R or 1Y. I remember the sur d but never owned one. I even have one of the cherry red yellow dots. I liked Columbia 300 stuff until I came back and have switched to roto grip. Steve

[Fenix]

The LT48 Petraglia.. or "Piggy" as we called it here, was probably the first "super ball".. late 70s or early 80s?
I remember I kept using mine til the mid 90s :P

[RobLV1]

The LT48 Petraglia.. or "Piggy" as we called it here, was probably the first "super ball".. late 70s or early 80s?
I remember I kept using mine til the mid 90s :P

A few weeks ago in a scratch league in Vegas, John Jr. shot a very high series (over eight, I think) using the LT 48 - the ORIGINAL LT 48!

[Aslan]

I never saw more than a 2-ball bag back in the 80s. The more serious guys might have a 1-ball bag in each hand or a 2-ball shoulder bag. But I'd say 90% (or more) just had 1 ball.

[Tony]

The first ball I ever had was a Brunswick Black Beauty then about 1990 I got some sort of Johnny Petraglia labeled ball ( not sure if it was an LT-48) from a guy for 5.00 when he got the hot new ball a Burgundy Hammer, his hand and mine were pretty close to the same so I never even had it re-drilled!
None of the guys I knew had more than one bowling ball at that time.

[SRB57]

The LT48 Petraglia.. or "Piggy" as we called it here, was probably the first "super ball".. late 70s or early 80s?
I remember I kept using mine til the mid 90s :P

I have one of the original LT-48 and had to have the thumb drilled oversize then plugged for a smooth finish. The inner core was a rough cork type material and could not get out of it otherwise. Steve

[Hammer]

I bowled on a Friday night mixed league starting in 1978 using a Columbia yellow dot that was a dark metallic red. It was my first fingertip ball. I bowled in that league until
1981 with that one ball. When I started bowling league again in the 1987 I went into the big time with a Fabal Blue Hammer that I still have. It was a 16# ball. I use to set up on the approach so I could throw it between the one and five board. When folks on our league would see me do this they would ask me aren't you afraid of throwing it in the
gutter doing that? I would answer that I was used to throwing it like that and it didn't bother me. Every once in a while it would go into the gutter but on my second ball I would knock down all of the pins for a spare. The Fabal Blue Hammer was a great ball with a controlled arc and very good carry. I had a lot of 200+ games and 600+ series with that ball.