Duckpin bowling

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A Duckpin bowling ball

Duckpins in relation to the ball

Duckpin bowling is a form of bowling that is popular along the eastern coast of the United States, from Virginia through the south coast of New England, and in Quebec.

1 History
2 Rules of the game
3 Variants
4 External links

[edit] History

The origin of the sport is a subject of some debate. According to popular legend, Duckpin bowling began in Baltimore, Maryland around 1927, at a bowling alley owned by future baseball Hall of Famers John McGraw and Wilbert Robinson. However, according to a 2005 baseball book by Howard W. Rosenberg (Cap Anson 3: Muggsy John McGraw and the Tricksters: Baseball's Fun Age of Rule Bending), an article from May 1894 in the Lowell (Mass.) Sun confirms the existence of duckpins as of 1894. Rosenberg traced the story of crediting the origins of duckpins to McGraw and Robinson as far back as Shirley Povich of the Washington Post in the late 1930s. In any event, the name supposedly comes from a remark by McGraw during the first game played with pins cut down from old standard pins. McGraw, an avid duck hunter, said that the flying pins looked like "a flock of flying ducks"; a sportswriter turned the remark into the word "duckpins," and the name stuck.

In 1985, an obscure 130-plus page publication called Duckpins: The Tenth Frame cited related Lowell, Mass., coverage of duckpin bowling back in May 1894. Writing in the obscure publication, Bob Tkacz, of Newington, Conn., noted having found articles showing that a duckpin tournament was being held in Lowell at that time. The 1985 publication is not readily available in any U.S. library, which explains why Tkacz's finding was easy to miss as the earliest known "in print" rebuttal of the Baltimore origin myth. Articles can be found in the Globe earlier than May 1894 showing the existence of the sport around Boston. According to Rosenberg, the earliest Globe reference to duckpins was apparently on January 2, 1893. Robinson, by virtue of having been born in Massachusetts, is plausibly the person responsible for introducing the sport to Baltimore; Rosenberg's book methodically accounted for Baltimore newspaper reporting in late 1899, when the sport seemingly was first played in Baltimore (at the McGraw-Robinson alleys, of course). Baltimore Sun next-day reporting seems to credit those alleys for introducing the sport to Baltimore the night before. Consistent with that, unpublished research by Tkacz in the 1980s unearthed the following gem from a 1909 Baltimore publication called Bowlers Guide: "The game of duckpins was first introduced in Baltimore about twelve years ago."

On December 11, 2005, The New York Times, apparently for the first time in its reporting history, pointed to the apparent New England roots of the sport; The Times had previously reflexively recited the canard about the sport having originated in Baltimore. The article, by C. J. Hughes, was titled, "CONNECTICUT AT ITS BEST; Down at Memory Lanes, It's Duckpin Season."

[edit] Rules of the game

The rules of Duckpin bowling, or "Duckpins", are very similar to those of Ten-pin bowling. The major differences are:

The pins are shorter and squatter. The original Duckpins were simply Ten-pins cut down to size. Regulation Duckpins are 9 13/32 inches tall, with a maximum diameter of 4 1/8 inches, and a minimum diameter of 1 3/8 inches at the base.
The balls are smaller, and do not have any finger holes. The balls are meant to be held entirely in one hand, similarly to a Bocce ball. Regulation Duckpin balls have a maximum diameter of 5 inches, and a maximum weight of 3 pounds, 12 ounces.
As in Candlepin bowling, bowlers are allowed three shots per frame, rather than two. If all ten pins are knocked down on the first or second balls (or "throws"), a "strike" or "spare" (also referred to as a "mark," after the notation on the score sheet), is awarded, and pins knocked down on the next one or two throws are scored. If all ten pins are knocked down in three balls, the score is simply noted as a 10.
Unlike Candlepin, but like Ten-pin, fallen pins left on the lane after a throw (known as "dead wood") are cleared before the next ball is rolled.

Duckpin bowling is a sport popular with all ages. While the size and weight of the balls make it a more feasible game for children and seniors, they also increase the difficulty of the game, making it a challenge for all players. While "perfect" games of Ten-pin bowling (i.e., a score of 300) are bowled on a regular basis, no officially sanctioned Duckpin score of 300 has ever been recorded. The configuration and size of the pins and ball can result in drastically different results for multiple rolls that seem nearly identical.

[edit] Variants

In the 1930s a variant called Rubberband Duckpin Bowling was made in the Baltimore-Washington area. The pins are circled with hard rubber bands to increase action and scoring. ^[1] Rubber band duckpin, is the only version of duckpin played in Quebec. There have been have been many perfect games bowled in rubber band duckpin, including the largest duckpin prize ever given out on TV in 1994 $50,000 Cdn.^[2] Since it is easier to knock down pins in rubber band duckpin, in this version, the rules of play are identical to those of standard 10 pin bowling.