#50 Monacelli is First Foreign-Born Player of the Year - PBA Top 60 Most Memorable Moments

Amleto Monacelli Dominated the 1989 PBA Tour Season En Route To Bowler Of The Year Honors

In 1989, Venezuelan native Amleto Monacelli became the first foreign-born player to win the PBA Player of the Year award after winning four titles including the Touring Players Championship. The next season he repeated the honor setting him up to become the first foreign-born player inducted into the PBA Hall of Fame in 1997. Although a member since 1982, Monacelli was not the first foreign-born player to win a PBA Tour title. That honor belongs to Sweden’s Mats Karlsson who won the 1983 AMF Grand Prix in Crawley, England.

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