1969 PBA Miller High Life Open: Championship Match: Mike Limongello vs Billy Hardwick

[@sludge4125]

Irish, thanks for posting. It’s wonderful how you and a few others have so much pba material, plus non PBA professional material.

[@robertbarber3238]

I think it was 1975 I was at the Firestone Tournament of Champions. At the end of qualifying I stood by the locker room door and asked Limongello if he had any bowling balls he was not going to use. He went in and brought back out a Dick Weber 5 Star. Weber saw it, laughed and said I needed something better than that. Great memory. Still have it.

[@sludge4125]

Great story!!!!

[@timothyhodges705]

Who'd thought Dick Weber would have such a great sense of humor... 😂😂😂

[@steelydanbowler]

Thanks for this John. I love watching Billy Hardwick bowl

[@2badger2]

I bowled against Mike in 1969 in Redwood City at Mel's Bowl when the pros bowled there. I was 17 and a junior bowler at the time. I won the Junior PRO-AM that year.

[@MrChristopherHaas]

THANK YOU for the HISTORICAL POST of the first matches i ever saw on tv from the BOLERO, which is the first bowling lanes i ever visited and the first lanes i ever bowled on

[@MikeHL78]

First time I've ever seen the Lemon, and against one of my all-time favorites, too. Thanks Irish!

[@ajankowski2]

Rolling fairly straight, playing the track was the way I learned to bowl as a youngster. I really miss those days. Bringing two balls to a tournament (the second one was just in case the first one got damaged by a ball return LOL). What I see today does not resemble what I knew as bowling at all. I managed to get up to the Regional level with only limited success (a few finals appearances and cashes, but no titles). But I was never physically capable of putting all the power on the ball as others did, and eventually the game outgrew my capabilities. I often wonder how things would have ended up if reactive bowling balls (and even urethane for that matter) had never come along.

[@gregorycarl5534]

Whoever thought making balls that soak up oil from the lane made, in my opinion, a horrible mistake

[@tonyvincent9753]

Mike should have won that tournament. He was a hustler back in the day and cool under pressure. He and Ernie Schlegel made a lot of money bowling pots in the tri-state area when they weren’t on tour.

Lemon, you where my idol when I was a kid. You where a great bowler with a ton of money in your kick. You use to bowl for tons of money every game.

[@jimdailey1018]

Good days. PBA then wide world of sports.

[@sludge4125]

The thrill of victory...

[@Tipacar]

What a match!

[@SamusMaXximus]

I was here to watch Billy Hardwick, but hell yeah for Lemon Jello!

[@sludge4125]

His brother played in the baseball major leagues.

[@williamdunphy352]

Commentators: Chris Schenkel & Billy Welu.

[@peterlimongello3476]

My grandpa is Mike Limongello

[@irishpogi]

How is he doing?

[@sludge4125]

That’s don mccune sitting on the bench.

[@toddmaniatoddmania9844]

Back when it was real bowling with a higher skill level. Today, it’s a bunch of two-handed high-rev nonsense with bowling balls that are too strong for the pins.

[@irishpogi]

@ they should change the inner construction of the pins make them more difficult to knock down

[@blockcl]

@@irishpogi Agreed, but it's not likely to happen. Proprietors want numbers to encourage average and rec bowlers to play more. It has become a bit ridiculous, though. I average 15 pins more today than I did 35 years ago, when I was in my physical prime and bowling at a fairly high level of competition.

[@jackburton4892]

@@blockcl growing up bowling Jr. leagues in the 80s we used to 2 hand the ball thumb less for fun. They told us that was "illegal". So what the hell is going on these days? Bending rules for high scores. Then they wonder why bowling is dying.

[@sludge4125]

Lemon’s first spare was a “very difficult spare???? Was it the 5-7-8-9? Chops are possible, of course, but get the 5 pin and the rest should fall. Right? :) This *is* a pretty unusual leave, though.

[@MilesMutchler-t3s]

Nothing like hard rubber balls and playing the track. Certainly nothing like bowling today.

[@deesyphrr]

Please find the Adam West elk hunting show. lol