Johnny Petraglia was born in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, and now hails from Manalapan Township, New Jersey

Manalapan Township, New Jersey

Manalapan Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 38,872. The name "Manalapan" comes from the Lenape word for "land of good bread or good land to settle upon."...

. He is best known as a left-handed bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association

Professional Bowlers Association

The Professional Bowlers Association is the major sanctioning body for the sport of professional ten-pin bowling in the United States. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the PBA membership consists of almost 4,300 members worldwide...

 (PBA), where he won 14 tour titles. He has also won six Senior PBA Tour titles. He is a member of both the PBA and USBC

United States Bowling Congress

The United States Bowling Congress is a sports membership organization dedicated to ten-pin bowling in the United States. It was formed in 2005 by a merger of the American Bowling Congress, Women's International Bowling Congress, Young American Bowling Alliance, and USA Bowling...

 Halls of Fame.

Petraglia joined the PBA in 1965, and won his first tour title at Fort Smith, Arkansas

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...

 in 1966 when he was just 19 years old. A week later, Petraglia left the PBA Tour to join the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 during the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

. He served as an Army Spec 5 in Long Binh and Bien Hoa from 1967-68.

His best season as a pro came in 1971, when he won five titles in all. That year included consecutive wins in the last three tournaments of the season—culminated by a major championship in the Firestone Tournament of Champions. Petraglia would win two more majors: the 1977 BPAA U.S. Open and 1980 PBA National Championship, making him one of only six players to earn the PBA career "Triple Crown." (Billy Hardwick

Billy Hardwick

Billy Hardwick is a former right-handed ten-pin bowler and member of the Professional Bowlers Association. He currently hails from Florida.-PBA career:...

, Mike Aulby

Mike Aulby

Mike Aulby is a left-handed bowler and former member of the Professional Bowlers Association . He is one of only three PBA bowlers to win both a Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year award...

, Pete Weber

Pete Weber

Peter David "Pete" Weber, nicknamed “PDW”, , is a famous bowling professional on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour. Weber is one of the sport's most popular active players and is well known for his maverick, rebellious personality...

, Norm Duke

Norm Duke

Norm Duke is an American professional bowler currently on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour. He has bowled 58 perfect 300 games in PBA competition, including the 15th televised 300 game in PBA Tour history on January 5, 2003....

 and Chris Barnes are the others.) The 1980 event featured one of the more dramatic final matches in major tournament history, as Petraglia rolled four consecutive strikes in the 9th and 10th frames to secure the victory.

In 1994, after many figured his regular tour career was over, the 47-year old Petraglia rolled the PBA's seventh televised perfect 300 game to defeat Walter Ray Williams

Walter Ray Williams

Walter Ray Williams, Jr. is one of the top-ranking professional ten-pin bowlers in history. He currently holds the record for all-time standard PBA Tour career titles and total PBA earnings...

, 300-194. He did not, however, go on to win the title match.

Petraglia is one of only three bowlers (Dick Weber

Dick Weber

Dick Weber was a famous bowling professional and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association...

 and Dave Soutar

Dave Soutar

David Soutar was a successful professional ten-pin bowler on the Professional Bowlers Association Tour. He won 18 times on the regular PBA Tour, and seven more times on the Senior PBA Tour...

 are the others) to win at least one regular or Senior PBA Tour title in five different decades. On September 12, 2010, Petraglia won the PBA East Senior Regional championship to join Weber as the only two bowlers to win a PBA title of any kind in six different decades.

In the media

In a sport where most bowlers frequently change equipment affiliations, Petraglia has remained associated with Brunswick Corporation

Brunswick Corporation

The Brunswick Corporation , formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is a United States-based corporation that has been involved in manufacturing a wide variety of products since 1845. Brunswick's global headquarters is in the northern Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois...

since 1971. Numerous Brunswick bowling balls and other products have borne his name over the years. There was also a recent PBA Tour stop named after him—The Johnny Petraglia Open in North Brunswick, NJ.

Awards and recognition

• Inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1982
• Inducted into USBC Hall of Fame in May, 2009
• Served three terms as PBA President (1979–80, 1989–90 and 1997–98)
• Was ranked #16 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years"