Mark Stephen Roth[1] (April 10, 1951 – November 26, 2021) was an American professional bowler. He won 34 PBA Tour titles in his career (sixth most all-time), and is a member of the PBA and USBC Halls of Fame.[2] Roth was most dominant from 1975 through 1987, a stretch in which he made 107 televised finals appearances, captured 33 titles, and won four PBA Player of the Year awards.[3] He is also known for having been the first professional bowler to convert a 7–10 split on national television.[4]
Roth was born on April 10, 1951, in Brooklyn, New York. His mother, Hilda (Rocker) Roth, was a legal secretary, and his father, Sidney, was a postal worker and a World War II Army veteran.[5][6]
Roth made a splash on the PBA Tour with a cranking, hard-throwing style that spawned a generation of imitators for years to come.[7] Often referred to as "The Original Cranker," he won 34 PBA titles, including two major championships which both came in 1984 (the U.S. Open and the Touring Players Championship). His first title came in 1975, winning the PBA King Louie Open in Overland Park, Kansas, with a final match 299 game against Steve Jones. He also holds, to this day, the PBA record for most single season victories, with eight titles in 1978.[2] His seventh win of the 1978 season made Roth the youngest player (27 years, 126 days) to reach 15 PBA Tour titles, a distinction he still holds.[8]
Roth won the PBA Player of the Year award in three consecutive seasons (1977 through 1979), and won the honor again in 1984.[7] In addition to his two majors, Roth and partner Marshall Holman won their third PBA Doubles title in 1984. So dominant were the pair in doubles tournaments, the PBA has held an annual event since 2015 called the Roth-Holman Doubles Championship.
Roth is notable for having been the first bowler to pick up the 7–10 split on television, which he accomplished on January 5, 1980 in the ARC Alameda Open at Mel's Southshore Bowl in Alameda, California.[9] Through 2023, he is still the only right-handed bowler to have converted the 7-10 on a PBA telecast. The feat has been accomplished three times since, all three times by left-handers.[10]
Roth captured his 33rd PBA Tour title in 1987, winning the Greater Buffalo Open at Thruway Lanes in Cheektowaga, New York. Roth then went through the longest title drought in his career before winning his 34th and final title, the 1995 IOF Foresters Open at Club 300 Bowl in Markham, Ontario, Canada.[11] Roth made his final television appearance in a PBA Tour event at the 1998 PBA Peoria Open, losing the opening match to Tom Baker, 265–190, to finish in fifth place. After reaching age 50, Roth captured two titles on the PBA Senior Tour (now the PBA50 Tour).[12] In addition, he won one title on the short-lived Generations Bowling Tour in the 2006-07 season.[13]
Around 2002, Mark ran a bowling center in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania named "Mark Roth's Hall of Fame Lanes." This only lasted about six months, and the partnership dissolved.[17]
On June 4, 2009, Roth suffered a stroke, leaving him partially paralyzed on his left side.[18] Following rehabilitation, he was seen in late March 2010 on his feet and moving around at the GEICO Mark Roth Plastic Ball Championship, a PBA Tournament named in his honor.[19]
He spent a week in intensive care after a heart attack in April 2019.[20]
Roth died on November 26, 2021, at the age of 70 in a hospital in Fulton, New York, due to congestive heart failure and complications following a diagnosis of pneumonia.[21]
Roth is survived by his wife Denise, and by Stephanie, his daughter by his first wife.[22] Stephanie is a figure skater. Denise resides in Fulton, New York.[18] He was Jewish.[14][15]
