It took Art Block 50 years in fivepin bowling to be two balls away from a perfect game.
And, at 77, Block jokes he doesn’t think he has another 50 years to get that close again.
Unfortunately for the popular Vernon left-hander, the perfecto was not meant to be on a recent Thursday night league outing at Lincoln Lanes.
After starting his third game of the evening with 10 straight strikes, and with 30 people looking on, Block had a split (headpin and three-pin) with his second ball in the 10th frame and settled for a 421 (perfect score is 450).
“When you get up to hit, the only thing you’re thinking of is to try and throw the ball in a good place,” said Block, a retired land surveyor who began bowling in 1962.
“I knew I was down to two strikes away (from perfect game). It’s not something you can block out.”
Block, who carries a 254 average, said he felt good on all of his balls in that third game. He throws a fast enough ball that he knows right away if it’s going to be good, close or not good.
On that 11th ball, he thought he was going to get a headpin. When he got the split, Block dropped to one knee and smacked his side in obvious disappointment.
It was the ninth 400 game of Block’s lengthy career, five of which have come in the month of October.
“I had a 431 once,” recalled Block. “I started with a corner spare, rolled 10 strikes in a row and finished with a corner pin standing. But this was as close to a perfect game as I’ve been.”
Block bowls on Thursdays for Marvin’s Cabinets featuring longtime sponsor Marv Zwarych, Marv’s wife, Lori, Randy Borton, Tim Dooling and Chris Cooper, though, on the occasion of the near-perfect game, Bubba Aeichele was bowling for Cooper, who was still on-hand to watch Block’s masterpiece.
“My teammates are great and very supportive,” said Block. “They were really good that night. There was no real discussion about what was happening. They didn’t want to add to the pressure.”
It was the first 400 game in league play at Lincoln Lanes this season. Block receives, from the B.C. Bowling Proprietors Association, a golf shirt and certificate to commemorate the 400 game. He also receives a free entry into the 400 Club tournament in September in the Lower Mainland.
Block bowled his way onto the Lincoln Lanes men’s team that competed at the recent Interior A Championships, held at Lincoln Lanes and Capri Lanes in Kelowna.
The men’s team finished sixth overall while the ladies and mixed teams won their respective divisions. Vernon collected the aggregate trophy.
