On this page are regrouped Elmer’s performances in 5 major tournaments in which he regularly took part: The Ontario, Canadian, and World championships, plus the Eastern National and the Greenville Ringer Classic.
An amazing statistic we found is the fact that from 1960 to 1977, in the 3 major tournaments held in the U.S., Elmer averaged over 80% in 44 out of 45 tournaments!!! The only exception is the 1965 Eastern National where he only averaged ...79.8%!
Some records are missing for the Canadian and Ontario championships, but Elmer pitched 19 more tournaments over 80%. Those stats are only for the 5 major tournaments listed on this page. He certainly pitched many others! The only other comparable feats are probably those of 3-time world champion Curt Day from Frankfort, Indiana, who from 1960 to 1976 hit over 80% in 130 tournaments out of 149! Curt Day, a model of consistency, was probably the player who beat Elmer the most times.
Canadian Championships 1957 1st 11-0 76.6 1958 1st 7-1 77.6 1959 1st 10-1 78.8 1960 2nd 10-1 75.6 1961 1st 11-0 80.9 1962 1st 8-0 - 1963 1st 6-0 79.8 1964 1st - - 1965 1st ?-1 - 1966 1st ?-0 - 1967 3rd 5-2 82.0 1968 1st 7-0 80.2 1969 2nd 4-1 - 1970 1st 9-0 76.0 1971 1st 3-0 85.3 1972 1st 8-0 85.6 1973 2nd 6-1 80.9 1974 2nd 4-1 78.4 1975 1st 11-0 82.1 1976 absent 1977 1st 9-0 83.1 1978 1st 7-0 78.8 1979 1st 7-0 76.6 1980 absent 1981 1st 11-2 72.8 1982 1st 10-1 75.1 1983 3rd 8-3 72.1 1984 3rd 10-3 62.9
Elmer Hohl won 19 titles in 26 appareances at the Canadian Championships. He lost 9 games in his last 4 appearances, the same number (9) as in his previous 22 year record. Dean beat Elmer a minimum of 8 times, losing many close games too. Fernand Thibeault beat Elmer 3 times, Joyal and Leclerc twice, and Elmer’s other losses came to the hands of Ross Stevenson (1967), Steve Hohl (1983), and Casey VanderLinden (1984). He averaged over 80% at least 8 times and had at least 182 wins (records for 1964, 65 and 66 missing).
Ontario Championships 1957 1st - - 1958 1st 10-1 * 1959 1st - - 1960 1st 7-0 - 1961 1st - - 1962 1st - - 1963 did not play 1964 1965 1st - - 1966 1st 1967 1st 81.0 1968 did not play 1969 1st 5-0 - 1970 1st 4-0 80.0 1971 1st 13-0 78.0 1972 1st 11-0 79.5 1973 1st 1974 1st 18-0 74.0 1975 1st 7-0 80.1 1976 1st 5-0 80.5 1977 1st 7-0 80.2 1978 1st 11-0 74.0 1979 1st 8-0 78.7 1980 1st 6-0 79.7 1981 1st 6-0 78.8 1982 1st 11-0 81.2 1983 1st 69.4 1984 2nd 5-3 64.6
At the 1958 Ontario championships, it is mentioned that Elmer averaged around 70%. Elmer Hohl’s record in the Ontario provincials is simply amazing! He started to win in his first participation and never lost for 23 (or 25 years). The only year he didn’t win was his last participation in 1984 where he lost 3 games. The only other game he lost (from what is known) was in 1958 from Fred Harburn.
World Tournament Year Pos. W-L Rings/S.P. R% H.G. 1960 2nd 30-5 2280/2836 80.39 94.4 1961 4th 30-5 2168/2688 80.65 90.2 1962 3rd 30-5 2266/2726 83.13 91.4 1963 2nd 31-4 2250/2752 81.76 90.9 1964 4th 29-6 2538/3024 83.93 94.8 1965 W.C. 32-3 2428/2870 84.60 93.9 1966 5th 11-6 1260/1532 82.25 93.5 1967 4th 28-7 2385/2962 80.52 89.1 1968 W.C. 35-0 2613/2964 88.16 100.0 1969 2nd 33-2 2602/3012 86.39 95.9 1970 2nd 32-3 2249/2676 84.04 90.7 1971 2nd 31-4 2480/2956 83.90 94.7 1972 W.C. 33-2 2619/3044 86.04 92.7 1973 W.C. 32-3 2248/2692 83.51 96.9 1974 3rd 29-6 2421/2836 85.37 94.6 1975 W.C. 33-2 2267/2682 84.53 95.2 1976 4th 29-6 2511/3014 83.31 90.0 1977 W.C. 23-3 1980/2326 85.12 91.3 1978 3rd 29-6 1932/2462 78.47 92.3 1979 7th 22-9 1915/2402 79.73 95.2 1980 2nd 26-5 1952/2450 79.67 88.7 1981 7th 13-10 1767/2226 79.38 89.7 1982 14th 10-13 1049/1430 73.36 80.9 1983 7th 15-8 975/1354 72.01 88.2 24 app. 646-123 51155/61916 82.62
Elmer won 6 world titles out of 24 appearances. He also finished second 6 times. He recorded the highest average in 1962, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1977. His high game of course was the perfect game pitched in 1968 (30 shoes). His second highest was 95.9% in 1969.
Eastern National Tournament 1962 2nd 14-1 81.2 1963 1st 14-1 82.9 1964 2nd 12-3 83.0 (or 80.2) 1965 2nd 13-2 79.8 1966 1st 15-0 83.3 1967 5th 9-5 81.6 1968 1st 14-1 89.1 1969 1st 8-0 85.0 (or 86.3) 1970 2nd 14-1 86.4 1971 1st 15-0 83.5 1972 1st 15-0 87.4 1973 1st 15-0 86.7 1974 1st 6-0 84.5 1975 1st 14-1 84.3 1976 2nd 12-3 82.7 1977 1st 14-1 81.2 1978 absent 1979 1st 12-1 75.6 1980 2nd (or 1st) 82.7 1981 2nd 8-1 78.9 1982 1st 12-1 81.7 1983 7th 6-7 69.9 1984 6th 8-5 68.8
Though he was invited in 1958 by Alex Zebrun, State Secretary of Pennsylvania, Elmer’s first try at the Eastern National was in 1962. He won it at least 12 times, more than anybody else and has the record with 89.1% (out of 1306 shoes) in 1968, his career highest personal performance. In 1962 he pitched 1252 shoes, in 1963 his average was 82.95 out of 1158 shoes; and in 1967 he went 6-1 in the prelims and 3-4 in the finals for a combined 9-5 record. His winning streak was stopped in 1975 by Buck Engle (his only loss that year). In 1973 he was trailing 39-49 against Clyde Martz, Elmer came back with 26 in a row and won 51-49 in 148 shoes pitched.
Greenville OH Ringer Classic 1966 1st 11-1 85.2 1967 2nd 14-1 84.9 1968 1st 13-0 88.4 1969 2nd 13-2 82.6 1970 1st 14-1 84.3 1971 3rd 12-3 81.0 1972 2nd 11-2 85.7 1973 did not enter 1974 1st 13-0 84.2 1975 2nd 11-2 84.2 1976 3rd 11-2 82.5 1977 1st 13-0 83.8 1978 1st (rain) 6-1 80.2 1979 1st 12-1 83.2 1980 2nd 10-3 82.8 1981 4th 7-5 79.1 1982 4th 9-4 79.2 1983 5th 8-5 74.9 1984 9th 4-7 71.1
The Greenville Ringer Classic was first held in 1961 and quickly became known as the toughest tournament after the World’s. Elmer Hohl won it 7 times which was more than anybody else until Jim Knisley won his 8th title in 1992. Elmer also had the record highest overall percentage (88.4% for 13 games) until 1999 when Alan Francis shot 88.79% in 11 games! In 1968, Leo McGrath from Ohio, who had kept track of Elmer’s games, mentioned that for 48 straight tourney games, dating from the Eastern National through the first 20 games of the Worlds, Elmer averaged 88.7%!!
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