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Duckpin Bowling started in Baltimore, Maryland in 1900. The game was first played at the Diamond Alleys on Howard Street, a bar owned by Wilbert Robinson and John J. McGraw who were members of the original Baltimore Orioles baseball club and went on to manage the Orioles. Tenpin bowling was then strictly a winter sport, though a few alleys stayed open in summer so bowlers could practice their games. John Van Sant, manager of the Diamond, first had the idea to cut down a regular tenpin and use a smaller 6-inch diameter ball. He showed the game to Robinson and McGraw who liked the idea of the smaller ball because it would save the arms of their pitchers during the summer baseball season. Robinson and McGraw, who were duck hunters, gave duckpin bowling its name because of the way the duckpins would fly (like ducks?) when struck by the ball. Duckpins grew from its birthplace in Baltimore, where it remains the most popular form of bowling, and spread along the east coast and into Canada. By 1938 there were 200,000 duckpin bowlers in the United States. The Duck Club is the first duckpin bowling center west of the Mississippi River. Let the Duckpins Fly! See our Links Page for more info on Duckpin Bowling. |
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Birthday & Private Party Rates Available! Leagues Forming Now! |
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History of Duckpin Bowling |
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Wilbert Robinson (above) and John J. McGraw (below) founders of Duckpin Bowling |
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To the right is a picture of Babe Ruth bowling duckpins in Baltimore circa 1923. These are from the collection of the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum in Baltimore. |