Help me chose a second ball...

[J Anderson]

That's a tough decision. As John said, the widow spare may be a good choice since it has a dual function. Otherwise a Tzone or the like is always going to be just a spare ball. I think that if you got a widow spare, then later got a stronger ball like you had mentioned before that might make a good 3 ball combo. Strong for a little heavier conditions, widow spare for dry/spare and the Nitrous for inbetween.

My only concern is if you truly want a ball to throw straight at the pins a pure poly would be the best choice. Otherwise you may be in the same boat with a more dynamic core hooking away at the last minute.

I did not explicitly say that the Hammer Widow spare would be a good choice and did not mean to imply that it would be one. The whole point of having a spare ball is to have one that goes straight.

While I like having tools that can do more than one thing and can appreciate that one might be tempted to to get a spare ball that would double as a strike ball on very dry lanes, guess what? If the lanes are dry enough to need this ball as a strike ball, they are probably too dry for this ball to work as a spare ball!

[KYDave]

Understood John. I know you were just putting info out there. I was the one who implied that might be a good choice, or rather a considered option. Having a very limited arsenal I would like to have something I could possibly use as a different function as well.
But also mentioned that it may still hook away from the pins having a dynamic core, such as you brought up.
Sorry for any confusion, I wasn't trying to refute or imply anything you said. I was just trying to explore pros and cons of the different types of "spare" balls.
Sometimes this stuff is easier in person vs online haha.

[J Anderson]

Understood John. I know you were just putting info out there. I was the one who implied that might be a good choice, or rather a considered option. Having a very limited arsenal I would like to have something I could possibly use as a different function as well.
But also mentioned that it may still hook away from the pins having a dynamic core, such as you brought up.
Sorry for any confusion, I wasn't trying to refute or imply anything you said. I was just trying to explore pros and cons of the different types of "spare" balls.
Sometimes this stuff is easier in person vs online haha.

No problems.
I really do prefer to talk to people face to face, and even then some times the brain spits out something quite snarky before the polite conversation filter can catch it.