Antedating(1906) "Brooklyn side" (bowling) and a theory

[sclements at NEO.RR.COM]

“Brooklyn Side” is a bowling term meaning to strike the left pocket (1-2 pins) rather than the normal 1-3 pocket.
I traced it back to an apocryphal sounding story told in a 1911 article, best read on Barry Popik’s  web site -- http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/brooklyn_side_new_york_side_tenpins/

The article referred to an 1899-1900 championship match in NYC between the Chicago team and the NY team.  Supposedly, a Chicago roller, Frank Brill, noticed the alleys were worn on the right side of the lanes and one got better results by hitting the left side of the head pin (“Try the Brooklyn side”).

Antedating that 1911 cite, and offering new evidence that Frank Brill may have indeed originated the term, I found a 1906 cite in a bowling column written by Frank Brill.
_Duluth(MN.) News Tribune_   section 4(sports), page 2, col. 4
“When you’re hitting the one, three, or crossing over to the Brooklyn side just about the way you want to, and then find a bad split or a bad bunch of wood standing up, you wonder what’s the use.”

As an aside, Brill was a MLB pitcher for the Detroit Wolverines, lasting one year.

Sam Clements

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