Free Pin Action: Small-Time Gangsters, High-Stakes Gambling, and the Teenage Hustler Who Became a Bowling Champion by Gianmarc Manzione Page B

Kangaroo and The Leaper. Freddy the Ox. But Gun Post saw the emergence of new names, too, such as One Finger Benny, who could bowl 180 using just one finger in a lighter bowling ball—eight pounds—and usually made money doing it; Ira “The Whale” Katz, as famous for his girth as Freddy The Ox; or Bobby Pancakes who, rumor had it, was afflicted with an unending appetite for pancakes. Others wore their jobs like nametags. There was Mike the Cab Driver, Tony the Milkman, Morris the Mailman, or Bill “Pepsi” Vanacore, who worked for the Pepsi-Cola company.
    The names may have sounded funny to some people, but few would dare laugh, especially not a bowler known as“Goldfinger,” who earned his Bond villain-esque name in a way Bond himself would have relished. Goldfinger got his nickname because of the bowling ball he used. Brunswick, one of the main manufacturers of bowling balls, was making a series of balls called “Crown Jewels.” One, called the “Gold Crown Jewel,” was flecked with flakes of gold. Some thought it was real gold, while others insisted the flecks were nothing more than sequins or glittery, plastic specks. That was Goldfinger’s ball of choice, and he made enough money with it to justify the extravagance. Unlike most action bowlers, who were natives of New York City or New England, Goldfinger actually lived in Florida. So talented a hustler was Goldfinger that he made enough to hustle for a few days throughout the five boroughs and then buy himself a plane ticket back to Florida. Then he would board a plane a few weeks later and head up to New York to do it again.
    Goldfinger was so good, in fact, that even Ernie Schlegel learned a few tips from the man. One night, Schlegel was bowling Bill Daley, who was as renowned for his bowling ability as he was for his cunning as a gambler. Daley drubbed Schlegel for the first three games. Schlegel’s backers started getting worried. Then Schlegel remembered something. He had heard that Goldfinger had beaten Daley at this same bowling alley weeks earlier, and he knew also that the only line Goldfinger could play on the lane with any success was the 10 board or the second arrow, a portion of the lane known to bowlers colloquially as “the track.” That part of the lane became known as “the track” because it is a part of the lane most right-handed bowlers commonly play. Consequently, the track becomes worn down over time, causing the oil there to dry up or become depleted more quickly than on any other part of the lane. Just as a guy with a snow shovel digs a path from the front door of his house out to the street in a winter storm,a bowling ball carves a path through the oil on the lane that provides a reliable avenue to the pocket. Ridges of oil to the left and right of the track essentially cradle the ball and guide it toward the pocket as it proceeds down the lane. Bowlers who speak of “playing the track” mean they are taking advantage of this quirk in the lane conditions. The track can enable a capable bowler to strike at will for hours on end.
    Unlike Goldfinger, Daley was playing the extreme outside portion of the lane to the right of the 5 board, a strategy known in bowling as “playing the gutter.” He was drubbing Schlegel from out there. Schlegel decided to move in to the 10 board and play the the track like Goldfinger had. It worked; he beat Daley seven games in a row. He beat Daley so soundly, in fact, that the shylock loaning Daley money to keep him in the match ended up running out of money himself. In a twist of fate perhaps unprecedented in action bowling history, the shylock, for once, was the one asking for cash. He asked Schlegel if he would spot him some. By then, Schlegel had made enough money. Rather than spot the shylock to continue the match, he took his winnings and headed out to beat the rush-hour traffic.
    As might be expected of a guy with a nickname like “Goldfinger,” however, ultimately he proved to be a bit too