Elizabeth "Toots" Barger (March 30, 1913 - September 28, 1998) was a

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

duckpin bowling Duckpin bowling is a variation of the sport of bowling. Duckpin balls are in (12 cm) to 5 in (12.7 cm) in diameter, weigh 3 lb 6 oz (1.5 kg) to 3 lb 12 oz (1.7 kg) each, and lack finger holes. They are thus signific ...

champion. She was born Mary Elizabeth Ryan in

Hamilton, Maryland Hamilton Hills is a mixed-use suburban neighborhood located in the northeastern corner of Baltimore City, Maryland. Hamilton Hills represents a section of Hamilton, a larger historic area that includes other neighborhoods in Northeast Baltimor ...

and graduated from Eastern High School in 1931. She was dubbed "Tootsie" by her aunt, which she later shortened to the nickname "Toots". She married Ernest Barger, a plumber, and they had two children. Barger began duckpin bowling in 1939, when she played in her cousin's duckpin league in Baltimore. Popularly thought to have been invented in Baltimore in 1900, the sport of duckpin bowling reached the height of its popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. The ''

Baltimore Evening Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tri ...

'' newspaper sponsored an annual tournament from 1925 to 1968, which was often broadcast on local television. Barger won that tournament 12 times in 22 years, including six consecutive wins from 1946 to 1951. She was ranked the number one duckpin bowler by the National Duckpin Bowling Congress thirteen times during her career. She also was a three time winner of the U.S. Classic and a seven time winner of the Dixie Classic. Hailed as "Queen of Duckpins", Barger was a local celebrity. She and her husband owned the Libertytown Bowling Alley, where Barger gave bowling lessons. Barger retired from the sport in 1961 and stopped bowling entirely in 1995 after two knee replacements. Barger was inducted into the Duckpin Bowling Hall of Fame,

Anne Arundel County Anne Arundel County (; ), also notated as AA or A.A. County, is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 588,261, an increase of just under 10% since 2010. Its county seat is Annapolis, whi ...

Sports Hall of Fame, and was the second woman inducted into the Maryland State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1961. She donated a number of items to the

Smithsonian National Museum of American History The National Museum of American History: Kenneth E. Behring Center collects, preserves, and displays the heritage of the United States in the areas of social, political, cultural, scientific, and military history. Among the items on display is t ...

, including a bowling ball engraved with her nickname Toots. In 1999, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' published lists of the greatest athletes in every sport of all time from each US state, including Barger on Maryland's list at number 50. In 1992 she led an unsuccessful campaign to make duckpin bowling the official state sport of Maryland. She died on cancer at a retirement home in

Frederick, Maryland Frederick is a city in and the county seat of Frederick County, Maryland. It is part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. Frederick has long been an important crossroads, located at the intersection of a major north–south Native ...

in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barger, Toots 1913 births 1998 deaths American duckpin bowling players People from Baltimore