Let’s remember when James Blackstone bowled a 299.5 game, on this day in 1905 (February 11)
This is the kind of story trivia buffs like me can appreciate.
Back in 2000, the New York Times wrote that a 300 game, a perfect score and the result of bowling twelve straight strikes, is an impressive feat, but not as rare as it once was.
As far as history can tell, Seattle man James Blackstone came closer than anyone to getting a perfect score, without actually getting it. And no one has come closer since (and likely never will).
I’ll let “This Day in Things” tell it:
1905-James Blackstone of Seattle, Washington receives a score of 299.5 in a game of bowling. The unlikely incident occurs when on the last ball of a perfect game one pin splits in half. The bottom half of the pin stood in its position while the top half flew off. Judges at the bowling lane credited the bowler for half a pin, ruining his perfect game but leaving a score that has never been achieved in any other recorded game in history.
