Bowling league doesn't let blindness keep them in the gutter

Pittsburgh Live, Pennsylvania USA
Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Bowling league doesn't let blindness keep them in the gutter

By Rob Amen

Maggi Ostrowski feels for her bowling ball, takes her grip and slides her left 
hand along a metal rail leading to Lane One. 

She pauses momentarily, takes a few approach steps and gracefully rolls her 
11-pound ball toward the pins. 

"One, three, five, six," Bob Westerman yells from behind the scorers' monitors, 
telling Ostrowski, his girlfriend, which pins still are standing. 

Moments later, Ostrowski, 52, repeats the routine -- and picks up the spare. 

Westerman, 47, of Bellevue and three other members of the Top Cats Blind 
Bowlers League erupt with joy. Ostrowski smiles. 

For about 50 years, including the past 15 at Arsenal Lanes in Lawrenceville, 
blind Pittsburghers have gathered weekly to share a few laughs and knock down 
their share of pins, not to mention stereotypes. 

"What do you mean? Blind people can't bowl," said Susan Schaefer, reciting a 
mantra often repeated when people hear about the league. 

Schaefer, like Westerman, serves as a spotter for her visually impaired friends 
and relatives. 

"They get up and throw the ball and (sometimes someone) will say, 'What, are 
you blind?'" Schaefer said with a smile. 

But it's not about impressing people, Ostrowski said. 

"In this period of my life, it's like I'm beyond that," she said between frames 
last Tuesday night. "I can do whatever I set my mind to. 

"It's a night out. It's something to do. ... I just love going bowling. That's 
what it comes down to." 

No one in the 23-member league is quite sure when the league formed, although 
its origins date to the late 1950s or early '60s, said Ed Fitzpatrick. 

Fitzpatrick, 70, of Squirrel Hill joined in 1961 and serves as league secretary 
and treasurer. It wasn't called the Top Cats then, and members didn't 
congregate at Arsenal Lanes. 

The league has bounced among lanes in Oakland, Carrick and Lawrenceville, 
Fitzpatrick said. 

It meets 35 weeks a year, from Labor Day through May, and has five members like 
Westerman and Schaefer who serve as spotters. 

"I tried bowling with my eyes closed. Gutter ball every time," said spotter 
Frank Trosky, 55, of Hopewell, Beaver County. "I tried it for three frames." 

"It's amazing," said Leo Phillips, 44, of Hampton, and president of a league 
that bowls alongside the Top Cats on Tuesday nights. "They can't even see the 
pins. They'll have a 5-pin up. They'll get upset if they miss it. I miss a 
5-pin all the time." 

Fitzpatrick, who has partial sight, had no problem with the 5-pin last Tuesday. 
Schaefer of Brookline told Fitzpatrick it was the only pin standing after his 
first ball in the sixth frame of his second game. He knocked it square with his 
next ball. 

"She told me the 5-pin was up," Fitzpatrick said simply en route to a 133 game. 
"I know the 5 is in the middle." 

Ostrowski, who sees only light, credits muscle memorization for her ability to 
overcome her lack of sight. 

Others agreed. 

"Sometimes, it works," Ostrowski said after tossing a strike. "Sometimes, it 
doesn't. You do what you can with what you have." 

Rob Amen can be reached at ramen@xxxxxxxxxxx or 412-320-7982. 


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