The late Earl Anthony, who left an indelible legacy on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour as its first career millionaire, was announced as the greatest player in the PBA’s first 50 years Sunday, capping the tour’s weeklong 50th anniversary celebration at Red Rock Resort, Casino and Spa.
Walter Ray Williams Jr. of Ocala, Fla., the man who finally eclipsed Anthony’s total of 43 career PBA titles, finished second in voting conducted by a national panel of bowling experts.
Earl “would have been thrilled, very honored,” said Susie Anthony, the late Earl Anthony’s wife. “If Earl were here, he would probably say he wasn’t deserving. He wouldn’t turn it down, but he’d be very humble.”
“He would have been humble in public, thrilled in private,” Anthony’s son Mike added.
Finishing second wasn’t much of a disappointment to Williams, who now has 45 PBA titles, more than $4 million in career earnings and is still one of the PBA Tour’s most feared competitors.
“I feel Earl’s record is better than mine because it was more condensed,” Williams said. “Earl bowled 14 years and 400 or so events. I’ve bowled well over 600 by now, maybe 700. Some people will argue Earl’s era was tougher, but others will argue my era was tougher. The reality is, people threw the ball differently in each era. That’s the way the game is played.”
“I’m very pleased to be No. 2,” Williams continued. “If Dick Weber would have had 45 titles at the time Earl was still bowling, he probably would have kept on bowling because he would have wanted someone to chase. As it was, he retired because no one had close to the number of titles he had. He didn’t have anything to shoot for.”
“Some people don’t remember that Earl was Player of the Year in 1983, the year he retired,” said Williams, who is one of the PBA’s best historians. “And he didn’t even bowl a full season that year.”
PROFESSIONAL BOWLERS ASSOCIATION
50 GREATEST PLAYERS IN PBA HISTORY
1. Earl Anthony 2. Walter Ray Williams Jr. 3. Dick Weber 4. Pete Weber 5. Mark Roth 6. Mike Aulby 7. Norm Duke 8. Don Johnson 9. Marshall Holman 10. Parker Bohn III 11. Don Carter 12. Billy Hardwick 13. Brian Voss 14. Dick Ritger 15. Nelson Burton Jr. 16. John Petraglia 17. Carmen Salvino 18. Wayne Webb 19. Dave Davis 20. Dave Soutar 21. Amleto Monacelli 22. Mike Durbin 23. Dave Husted 24. Jason Couch 25. Steve Cook 26. Chris Barnes 27. Jim Stefanich 28. Harry Smith 29. Del Ballard Jr. 30. Tommy Jones 31. Wayne Zahn 32. Jim Godman 33. George Pappas 34. David Ozio 35. Randy Pedersen 36. Dave Ferraro 37. Bill Allen 38. Larry Laub 39. Mike McGrath 40. Tom Baker 41. Joe Berardi 42. Danny Wiseman 43. Doug Kent 44. Patrick Allen 45. John Guenther 46. Gary Dickinson 47. Barry Asher 48. Tommy Hudson 49. Mika Koivuniemi 50. Bob Strampe
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