One day it will be Los Angeles’ turn.
But on Friday, it was two East Coast stars who were named to the Professional Bowlers Assn. Hall of Fame.
They are Doug Kent, of Newark, N.Y., and Danny Wiseman, of Baltimore, both of whom were selected among the 50 greatest players in PBA history during the organization’s 50th anniversary celebration in 2009.
Wiseman, 45, who has won 10 PBA titles, and Wiseman, 45, who has claimed 12 PBA championships, were ranked 42nd and 43rd, respectively on the PBA list.
Both bowlers have earned more than $1.5 million since they joined the PBA in the late 1980s.
On that distinguished list of top 50 bowlers, the late Earl Anthony ranks first and is followed by such luminaries as Walter Ray Williams Jr., Dick Weber, Pete Weber and Mark Roth.
Ranked No. 47 is Orange County-based Barry Asher, a longtime California standout.
Asher won 10 PBA titles and earned more than $300,000. He won two titles in a season four times. Although he didn’t win a major, Asher finished second three times, including the 1973 and ’75 Tournament of Champions.
And he won a championship in ’75 and ’76, his final years on the tour.
Perhaps someday Simi Valley native Robert Smith and Barry Gurney of West Hills will be recognized as Hall of Fame worthy.
Smith has won seven PBA Tour titles and Gurney ranks as one of the all-time greats on the senior circuit. Gurney is still competing – and finishing in the prize money – at 71. On Sunday, Gurney placed fifth in the West Coast Senior Tour’s stop at Bowlium Lanes in Montclair, Calif.
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