Bowlers Journal International - November 2008 - (Page 128) Opinion STRIKES ME BY BOB JOHNSON { bobj@bowlersjournal.com } Was Mark Roth’s 1978 Really the Greatest Season in PBA Tour History? ANNIVERSARIES ARE GREAT EXCUSES for spending a little time looking back, even if, as Satchel Paige so sagely put it, something might be gaining on us. This issue celebrates two pretty big anniversaries — the 95th of this magazine, the oldest sports monthly in the world, and the 50th of the Professional Bowlers Association. So, allow us to devote this space this month to the consideration of the greatest individual seasons in PBA history. After all, while we hope there one day will be a centennial celebration for the PBA, we must realize that the organization will have only one quinquagenary. The genesis of this topic can be traced to the September issue of BJI, and a feature story written by Lyle Zikes — whose byline first graced the magazine’s pages in 1976, and who has been covering the pro bowling beat continuously since 1990. Few people, if anyone, can rival Zikes in knowledge about the PBA, so he was a natural to write the story on Mark Roth’s 1978 season — generally considered the greatest single-year performance ever on the Tour. What was so impressive about Roth’s record in ’78? Well, winning may not be everything in pro bowling, but it counts for a lot since, unlike athletes in other sports, bowlers never had guaranteed salaries until the advent of the all-exempt Tour. There have been numerous instances when a bowler had to cash in a tournament, or he would have been on his way home afterward, broke. Winning always has been important because the winners get the most lucrative prize checks. Roth won eight times in 1978. No bowler in PBA history — not Dick Weber, not Earl Anthony, not Walter Ray Williams Jr. — ever has equaled that feat. So, if you’re sipping on a tall, cool one after league in the 11th Frame Lounge, and you happen to opine that Roth’s 1978 was the greatest season ever, you’re not going to get much of an argument. But was it the best season ever on Tour? That, of course, depends on how one perceives and defines greatness. In baseball, for instance, how do you compare Barry Bonds’ 2001 season, in which he broke Mark McGwire’s single-season home run record and Babe Ruth’s slugging percentage record, to Mickey Mantle’s 1956, when he hit and ran his way to a rare Triple Crown? Or how do you compare either of those seasons to Lefty Grove’s 1931, when he posted a 31-4 record and a 2.06 ERA in the regular season, then won two more games in the World Series? In football, how do you compare Dan Marino’s 1984 season, in which he passed for 5,084 yards and 48 touchdown passes, to Reggie White’s 1987, when he had 21 quarterback sacks in a strikeshortened 12-game season? At least in the world of professional bowling, everybody is playing the same “position.” It’s every man for himself, so the statistics make comparisons a bit more accurate and palatable. We decided to take four undeniably great seasons — Roth’s 1978, Billy Hardwick’s 1969, Earl Anthony’s 1975 and Walter Ray Williams Jr.’s 1993 — and run their records through a simple 5-43-2-1 point system, counting only top-five finishes. We doubled the points for majors. Using that methodology, Roth’s 1978 would be considered the second best in PBA history, earning a total of 67 points. He could have garnered far more, but he chose to sit out a number of stops. Hardwick’s 1969 season, which included six PBA Tour victories and a win in the All-Star, ranked third with 62 points. Williams’ 1993, in which he piled up seven titles but no majors, ranked fourth with 60 points. And the winner is Anthony’s 1975, when he became the first player to reach the $100,000 earnings plateau in a single year and, with his early-season victory at Bowling Square in Arcadia, Calif., became the winningest left-hander in PBA history. That victory was the first of seven that Anthony would experience in 1975 — including his third consecutive PBA National Championship triumph. He also finished second four times, third on six occasions and fourth once for a total of 82 points. What became apparent from this exercise is that the way we interpret statistics can play a big role in the conclusions drawn by headto-head comparisons. For a more contemporary example, we point to the two point systems now used on the PBA Tour. One measures consistency, while the other places more of an emphasis on high finishes. Last season, Walter Ray Williams topped the former, Chris Barnes the latter. So who really had the better 2007-08 season? Depends on how you look at it. 128 Bowlers Journal International | November 2008 www.bowlersjournal.com http://www.bowlersjournal.com
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