Tom Baker (bowler)

Tom Baker (born September 12, 1954, Buffalo, New York) is a professional bowler on the PBA Tour. He has won 10 titles on the regular PBA Tour, and 9 more on the PBA Senior Tour. He currently resides in King, North Carolina.

Baker had his best pro season in 1981, winning three titles and over $100,000 that season. By 1986, he had won 7 PBA titles before going on a 10-year winless streak, partially due to recurring wrist injuries. In 1996, he returned to the winner's circle at the AC-Delco Classic, and won again in 1997 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After another 7-year drought, he shocked the bowling world by winning the 2004 PBA World Championship at age 49.

Baker has dominated the PBA Senior Tour since joining in 2005, winning 4 Senior major titles and 5 Senior standard tournaments, while continuing to compete on the regular tour. Baker was named Senior Rookie of the Year and Senior Player of the Year in 2005, becoming the only senior player to earn both honors in a single season. He won Senior Player of the Year honors again in 2006 and 2007, an unprecedented streak in the history of the PBA Senior Tour.

In the 2008-09 season, Baker was the oldest player in the "exempt" field on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour. He earned an exemption through that season with his 2004 World Championship victory, but generally split his time between regular and senior tour events. He did not qualify nor attempt to regain his exemption for the 2009-10 regular tour.

Baker was ranked #42 on the PBA's 2008 list of "50 Greatest Players of the Last 50 Years."

Honors

Personal

Sources

www.pba.com, official site of the Professional Bowlers Association and the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour

References

  1. Manzione, Gianmarc. "Husted, Monacelli, Baker, Davidson elected to USBC Hall of Fame." Article at www.bowl.com on January 2, 2012.
  2. Vint, Bill. "Dave Soutar Closes 2011 Senior Tour Season with Record 250 Appearances." Article at www.pba.com on August 31, 2011.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.