Mark Roth, one of the greatest bowlers in the history of the sport, passed away on Friday of congestive heart failure with complications from pneumonia. He was 70.
Even before I became interested in bowling a couple of years ago, I knew about Mark Roth. This was because he was a Jewish athlete. You remember the joke in Airplane! about the "Great Jews of Sports" being the size of a pamphlet. But I remember Roth as one of several great Jewish bowlers along with Barry Asher and his frequent doubles partner Marshall Holman.
Roth is mainly remembered for his power game which won him 34 PBA titles including eight alone in 1978. But most of all he is remembered as the first bowler to convert a 7-10 split on national TV back in 1980. Three other bowlers have done it since including Anthony Neuer earlier this year. But Roth remains the only right-handed bowler to ever do so on TV. R.I.P.
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