Osgood, Dick
| Dick Osgood – (1992) |
 |
DICK OSGOOD
Long one of the most regarded members of the Lorain Bowling Association, Richard (Dick) Osgood is among few men who qualifies for tonight’s induction in both the Regular Performance and Special Category divisions of career criteria.
Osgood is the only five-time president of the LBA in its 67-year history, serving as chief during the seasons of 1948-49, 1954-55, 1955-56, 1956-57 and 1963-64. He also served numerous terms as a member of the LBA Advisory Board or as a delegate to other governing bodies of the sport.
Although Osgood has many fond memories of being a “fair but firm” LBA administrator, he derived his biggest thrills and recognition from actual competition against the best that local tenpin competitors had to offer.
Literally a “life member” of the LBA, Dick began sanctioned bowling in 1929 at Cooke’s Recreation (later Broadway Lanes). He still carries an LBA sanction card in the 55-Plus League at North Coast Shoreway Lanes, an LBA affiliate member in Sheffield Lake.
Osgood’s first teammates on the Covault Insurance squad at Cooke’s included LSHF inductee Joe Fitzgerald, Judge Malcolm Thompson, Joe Gethin and Fred Miller. They teamed to win the Commercial B League title in their first season together.
Graduating to the local Class A ranks within the next decade, Osgood went on to average 191 or more pins in five different LBA establishments for 20 consecutive years — 1940-60.
During the above “salad days” of LBA and Inter-City maples warfare, Osgood’s favorite bowlers to watch and “kibitz” were Fitzgerald, Dominic Pompei, Ed Riffle, Del Pollack, Barney Black and George Forester. “Dom Pompei was probably the smoothest bowler of all,” he said.
Bowling in the All-Star League at old Andora Lanes on Vine Avenue (later located on Bridge Drive) on Jan. 23, 1942, Osgood experienced his finest hour, tossing the first of six career 300 games. Dick’s series of 300-177-235—712 that night also gave him the first of a number of career 700 ABC Honor Scores, national laurels which were extremely coveted at the time.
In 1954, Osgood (inducted into the LBA Hall of Fame in 1982), compiled an average of 200 in the Saxon Club A League, a strong circuit that he dominated during the 1950s. It was on Jan. 18, 1954 at Saxon that Dick blasted a 257-707 salvo enroute to establishing that 200-pin season norm.
During the same period, Dick also hit a then all-time Saxon high of 276-708, another rare feat indeed before the days that high-scoring synthetic lanes and oil blocks were introduced.
Osgood and his wife, Betty, also a prolific LWBA scorer in her hey-day, earned the nicknames “Little O” and “Big O” during the 1950s and 1960s.
The family tandem frequently grabbed rivers of printers ink with their high series on a near daily basis. Editors of publications soon found that using “Big O” — who, of course, was Betty, or “Little O,” who, begrudgingly, was Dick — took less space when writing headlines about them.
Osgood is also credited with helping organize a pin league for Golden Agers at American Slovak Club Lanes. He also served the same league as its devoted secretary for many years.
In addition to being a respected kegler and softball umpire amid his schedule-filled days of yester-year (he was also a longtime craneman at the B&O Docks), lanky Dick was a top basketball player with independent clubs such as Knights of Pythias, Fisher Foods, General Outdoor Advertising, West Side Bakers and Erin Brews between 1926-40. He also managed or coached the Lorain Eries football elevens and the American Legion softball nines during the same era.
