Pin Action: Small-Time Gangsters, High-Stakes Gambling, and the Teenage Hustler Who Became a Bowling Champion by Gianmarc Manzione Page A
Authors: Gianmarc Manzione
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its triangular shape. When a right-handed player properly strikes the area between the 1 and 3 pins known as the “pocket,” the ball itself actually only collides with four of the ten pins in the rack—the 1 pin, the 3 pin, the 5 pin, and the 9 pin. Each of those collisions sets the rest of the strike in motion. The 1 pin takes out the 2, 4, and 7 pins; the 3 pin takes out the 6 and 10 pins; the 5 pin takes out the 8 pin and the ball itself takes care of the 9 pin.
If a right-handed bowler throws the ball too hard or too far right of the intended target, then the ball either will skid too long down the lane and get into a roll too late, or it will be forced to cross more boards than it can cover on its way back to the pocket. The variable that causes the ball to skid through the front part of the lane is the heavier application of oil there, which helps protect the surface of the lane from the bruising ittakes. Additionally, the amount and distribution of oil also can vary the difficulty of the game. Lanes with less oil in the front of the lane will cause the ball to hook sooner and lose energy by the time it nears the pins, while lanes with more oil in the front of the lane have precisely the opposite effect. The amount of oil applied to the lane diminishes the farther it gets from the foul line as friction intensifies between the bowling ball and the lane surface. These forces cause the ball to stop skidding and get into a roll as friction slows its forward speed and allows it to grip the lane surface. Players who naturally throw the ball harder or straighter might prefer “drier” conditions—lanes with less oil on them. Bowlers who throw the ball more slowly or hook the ball especially will appreciate more oil in the front part of the lane and even more oil down-lane as well.
On a spare leave such as the 2-4-5, the ball has come up just a bit shy of the pocket, or “light,” sending the 1 pin twirling around the 2 and 4 and into the left gutter, where it slaps out the 7 pin on its way into the pit. The resulting pin action still allows for the 3, 6, 8, 9, and 10 pins to fall, leaving the 2, 4, and 5 pins remaining. The 2-4-5 is not just one of the most common spare leaves for right-handed bowlers; it also is one of the easiest to pick up for a player of Russo’s ability, and everybody in the bowling alley knew it.
Russo had made a lot of mistakes over the years, but leaving an easily makeable spare standing in the 10th frame of this particular match would soon prove to be the biggest mistake of them all. No amount of effort to portray himself as just another fish would convince those who knew better that he was anything less than one of New York City’s most accurate bowlers. None of them would believe it if Russo whiffed this spare. One of the side games Russo most enjoyed, in fact, was a game known as “low ball.” It involved trying to bowl the lowest score on purpose, but you had to hit at least one pin on everyshot. If you threw a gutter ball, it counted as a strike. Such was Russo’s accuracy that he almost always bowled a 20, hitting just one corner pin—the 10 pin or the 7 pin—on each shot without touching any other pin on the deck. That required a level of skill envied even by the greatest bowlers who ever lived.
Russo would have loved to take back those careless demonstrations of his skill now, that cover he had so foolishly blown on a few lousy games of “low ball.” But he could not. Stepping up to face a spare that everyone in the house had seen him make many times before, Russo assessed the situation with the cunning acuity of a born thief. He could make the spare for a win and get shot by his own backer, or miss the spare for a loss and get shot by his opponent’s backer. In either case, he knew one thing for sure: Tonight would be the last night of his life.
Gangsters have a habit of simplifying decisions in people’s lives, a benevolent service one of them afforded Russo when,
If a right-handed bowler throws the ball too hard or too far right of the intended target, then the ball either will skid too long down the lane and get into a roll too late, or it will be forced to cross more boards than it can cover on its way back to the pocket. The variable that causes the ball to skid through the front part of the lane is the heavier application of oil there, which helps protect the surface of the lane from the bruising ittakes. Additionally, the amount and distribution of oil also can vary the difficulty of the game. Lanes with less oil in the front of the lane will cause the ball to hook sooner and lose energy by the time it nears the pins, while lanes with more oil in the front of the lane have precisely the opposite effect. The amount of oil applied to the lane diminishes the farther it gets from the foul line as friction intensifies between the bowling ball and the lane surface. These forces cause the ball to stop skidding and get into a roll as friction slows its forward speed and allows it to grip the lane surface. Players who naturally throw the ball harder or straighter might prefer “drier” conditions—lanes with less oil on them. Bowlers who throw the ball more slowly or hook the ball especially will appreciate more oil in the front part of the lane and even more oil down-lane as well.
On a spare leave such as the 2-4-5, the ball has come up just a bit shy of the pocket, or “light,” sending the 1 pin twirling around the 2 and 4 and into the left gutter, where it slaps out the 7 pin on its way into the pit. The resulting pin action still allows for the 3, 6, 8, 9, and 10 pins to fall, leaving the 2, 4, and 5 pins remaining. The 2-4-5 is not just one of the most common spare leaves for right-handed bowlers; it also is one of the easiest to pick up for a player of Russo’s ability, and everybody in the bowling alley knew it.
Russo had made a lot of mistakes over the years, but leaving an easily makeable spare standing in the 10th frame of this particular match would soon prove to be the biggest mistake of them all. No amount of effort to portray himself as just another fish would convince those who knew better that he was anything less than one of New York City’s most accurate bowlers. None of them would believe it if Russo whiffed this spare. One of the side games Russo most enjoyed, in fact, was a game known as “low ball.” It involved trying to bowl the lowest score on purpose, but you had to hit at least one pin on everyshot. If you threw a gutter ball, it counted as a strike. Such was Russo’s accuracy that he almost always bowled a 20, hitting just one corner pin—the 10 pin or the 7 pin—on each shot without touching any other pin on the deck. That required a level of skill envied even by the greatest bowlers who ever lived.
Russo would have loved to take back those careless demonstrations of his skill now, that cover he had so foolishly blown on a few lousy games of “low ball.” But he could not. Stepping up to face a spare that everyone in the house had seen him make many times before, Russo assessed the situation with the cunning acuity of a born thief. He could make the spare for a win and get shot by his own backer, or miss the spare for a loss and get shot by his opponent’s backer. In either case, he knew one thing for sure: Tonight would be the last night of his life.
Gangsters have a habit of simplifying decisions in people’s lives, a benevolent service one of them afforded Russo when,
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