I have had a lot of balls crack open.  Way more than I think is reasonable.  I don't keep my balls in the trunk except on the way to or from the alley.  I don't bake my balls (anymore).  Back when I did bake my balls, none of them cracked.

First was the re-release Pulse pearl.  It was a great second shift ball that suddenly had a crack 180 degrees around it.  I replaced it with a Vortex 2 pearl.

I can't remember the second to crack.  I think it was my Matrix Trimax II.  I didn't replace it, it was not getting much use anyway.

Next was the blue Messenger solid.  Another great one for when the lanes are used up.  It really responded to different releases unlike anything I had used before it.  I still have it on the shelf.  I want to break it all the way apart just to see what happens, but I want to videotape it, and I want to do it right:  a nice neutral backdrop, multiple angles.  I want to make a production out of it.  I hope my efforts are worth it.

The latest crack was the Big Deal, a ball I got almost by accident.  I was going through some thumb hole changes and my pro shop guy, Eddie, drilled up a used one as a tester and let me borrow it.  Within minutes I bought it outright.  Then it cracked.  Not as far as some others have, so it was salvagable.  Eddie took the time to plug the crack and get her running again.

He had a used X-Cel (or XX or XXX, I don't remember) on the rack that I was considering buying.  I came into the shop one day and saw that it had cracked!!  Now, balls that I am going to buy crack?!?!  Am I cursed?

On the last night of league I couldn't make a spare for anything.  I hit 3 out of 9.  Needless to say, I lived by the strike (thank you, Mr. Lane Man).  The first game, I barely put two together, and ended up with a 160.  Next game strikes came easier, and two key spares got me a 222.  Last game took the cake.  I started with a string and, well, kept stringing.  My teammates (especially Ted -- thanks dude) kept me loose, telling jokes and distracting me, making sure I wouldn't have time to dwell on what was happening.  I got up in the tenth frame and landed the tenth strike.  I'd been here before more than a year ago, and I felt I could close the deal this time.  Number eleven came due, and -- whoa, where is my backswing going?  I got my swing way high and yanked it, to boot.  It was an obvious pull that I could only watch and hope a big four wasn't coming.  The lane was kind to me and I got off easy:  just a four pin.  Okay, pressure's off, just pick it up and hope I can do better next time.  Well, like I wrote earlier, I couldn't make spares.  So, no four pick up, and I get a 288.  It's a new second-high, and I'm not the least bit upset about it.

 But, as the title says, the four pin cost me money.  Tonight was league payoff, and that 288, along with my hanicap, earned me the high game with handicap award.  But I was tied with another bowler.  If I had focused just that little extra bit, just practiced my spares a few more games, I may have doubled my payoff.

 There is a lesson here, I suppose.  Always deliver every ball as if there were $22.50 riding on it.