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Donald James "Don" Carter (July 29, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri - January 5, 2012 in Miami, Florida)〔(http://doncarter.com/doncarter/dcbio.htm )〕 was a right-handed American professional bowler. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he learned the game while working a childhood job as a pinsetter.,〔"Today in History, July 29" at The Library of Congress website.〕 and went on to become one of the legends of ten-pin bowling and a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1958. He was six-time bowler of the year, a 10-time All-American, and became known simply as "Mr. Bowling."〔(First Annual National Championship article at www.pba.com )〕 He was voted the Greatest Bowler of All-Time in a 1970 ''Bowling Magazine'' poll, and ranked #1 among 20th Century bowlers by ''Bowlers Journal'' in 1999. At the vanguard of celebrity endorsement, he capitalized on his fame during televised bowling's most popular period to become the first athlete of any kind to earn $1,000,000 in a single endorsement deal, for Ebonite International. ==Bowling career== Prior to the PBA being formed, Carter was known as a dominant bowler in major tournaments of the 1950s, as well as in team play. In the nine BPAA All-Star tournaments (predecessor to the U.S. Open) between 1952 and 1960, Carter won four times and never finished lower than fourth. He won five World Invitational events in a six-year span, finishing second the only year he did not win. He also won one ABC Masters title. As a team bowler, Carter helped the Pfeiffer Beer team of Detroit, Michigan, win the 1953 ABC Open Championships before he moved back to St. Louis. Carter was then part of the "Budweisers" Bowling Team that won the National Team Match Games title four straight years (1956–59). On March 12, 1958 this team established an ABC league series record for a five-man team (3,858 pins) that stood for more than 35 years. Ray Bluth, Dick Weber, Tom Hennessey, and Pat Patterson were also on that 1958 team.〔(freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com )〕 Unlike most bowlers who keep their arm straight on the backswing as they are about to release the ball, Carter kept his elbow bent, never straightening his arm. Although the PBA was not formed until Carter was 32 years old, he still won seven PBA titles (five of them majors) including the inaugural PBA National Championship in 1960. He won four titles and $49,000 in prize money in 1962 alone. That year, he also made 18 top-five finishes (still a PBA record), including seven straight top-five finishes (a feat matched only by Dick Weber since), and he was named the Bowling Writers Association of America's Bowler of the Year. In 1964, he signed a $1,000,000 deal to endorse Ebonite International bowling products, at the time the highest single deal of its kind. He was the PBA's first president, and served four years overall in that capacity. A bad knee forced him to retire from competitive bowling in 1972. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Don Carter (bowler)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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