Winning never gets old, and neither does Tommy Baker. At 54 years old, the PBA Hall of Famer and ten-time PBA titlist adheres to a daily routine of weightlifting and cardio exercise to remain in the best shape of his life. "I know I am in better shape than some of those guys," Baker says of players on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour, "and that's what motivates me to keep going back to the gym and make sure I feel good about myself, feel healthy. It keeps me positive, and then everything else follows with that." With the five-year PBA Tour exemption he earned by winning the 2004 PBA World Championship coming to an end earlier this year , though, Baker finds himself at a crossroads in his long career. He recently sat down with BOWL.com to discuss his ambition to rejoin the regular tour and become the oldest player ever to win a major title, what separates him from other Hall of Famers who left the tour long before they reached his age, why he continues to love life on the road, and much more.

What are your thoughts on your 5-year exemption on the Lumber Liquidators PBA Tour coming to a close earlier this year?

TB: Well, I was pretty sad that it ended. I really wanted it to keep going. You know, unfortunately I didn't make the point list. I just didn't match up to what the PBA had out there. I really don't think I bowled bad, I just didn't match up very well. And not just me, a lot of other guys too. But I am still trying to get back on the tour. The second half of this season I am going to bowl all the open tournaments, and I am still trying to get back on tour through the regional program. The top 25 guys in their region get to bowl the RPI in December and in that tournament the top 7 guys are exempt for the following year. Looks like I am 11th in points right now in my region, so it looks like I will go to Reno and hopefully have a good week there and be back on tour.

Some players, especially those who have achieved as much as you have, are unhappy that the exempt field system has put them in the position to get back on tour through regionals or TQRs. What are your feelings on the situation?

TB: Well, I kind of understand the PBA's position, what they're trying to do. I've been out there long enough, so I understand what they're doing. But it is sad that me being out there for so long and not being able to go out there and compete in a tournament with all I have accomplished and done. It hurts a little bit. But for me, it's what I do. I have been doing it all my life and I am still very good at it and I just want to keep going. Even if I didn't make the exempt tour I will still bowl half the tournaments anyway. That's all I do is bowl. I can bowl the regionals, I can bowl the seniors, and sometimes on the national tour. I'm still bowling, and I love the competition.

One thing Charlie Tapp mentioned when your exemption ended was that closed-shoulder style bowlers can't match up to today's lane patterns. Would you agree?

TB: I agree. It goes back to what I said earlier about matching up to what's out there. You can't go up the lane anymore because there is no oil on the front part of the lane. All the oil is on the back part of the lane, so I don't know how they are going to be this year but last year every pattern kind of played the same. You set up deep inside, you swung it to the right and you got it back. I'm from the old school from being out there so long, and that wasn't my game, so that's why I didn't match up. I agree about the open shoulder. If you watch all the great players, Chris Barnes, Pete Weber, their shoulder is wide open at the top.

You also see a lot of players following through in front of their faces now, players like Wes Malott. Why do you think these players are able to score that way?

TB: Yes. I think it's the lane conditions, actually. It's what they're putting out there. They could change that in a hurry by changing the lane condition. They seem to have their way of doing things and that's the way their doing things. In the years past there were one or two weeks where we could be unique enough and bowl through the week. We could stay to the right and go up the boards. In the past two years you haven't been able to do that because all the patterns play the same.

Do you think that lane conditions distinguish the sport of bowling from other pro sports in the sense that success is not entirely within your control? It also has a lot to do with what lane pattern is out there over a given week or even an entire season.

TB: Right, but on the other hand it is my job to match up to what they're putting out there because if you try to be one-dimensional you just can't do that anymore. You have to find numerous ways of getting the job done. That's why I am a much better bowler than I was years ago. You don't get up there and complain 'Well, they've got this shot out there and I can't bowl good on that.' You ask yourself 'OK, they have this shot out there this week. Now what do I have to do to score?' If you don't do that, you're done. You have to think positive and do whatever you have to do to make it work.

Tommy, Johnny Petraglia says his goal is to win a title in each of 6 decades. What is Tommy Baker's goal at this point in his career?

TB: I would say to win another major. I would be the oldest one to win a major. I would love to win the Tournament of Champions one day, that has always been a goal of mine but I have never been close really. In the past few years they have made the Tournament of Champions shot one of the easiest, when it should be one of the toughest. I just disagree with what they do but that's what they're going to do.

The scoring pace at the Tournament of Champions this year was astonishing, when Dave Husted average about a 250 for the first block and still was in second place. It was unreal.

TB: Well that's my point right there. For a tournament of that nature it should be a tough grind-out type of shot.

When you've been bowling as long as you have and accomplished as much as you have, does it get any harder to find a goal that inspires you over time?

TB: Well for me being much older than most of the guys on tour the key to staying motivated is to keep up with the guys. Here I am 55 years old still keeping up with the young guys. I finished second in a regional last week, I lost to Richie Allen. And the last game could have gone either way. I left a solid ten and a solid eight and lost by ten pins. My motivation is to keep up with those guys at my age. I try to keep myself in shape. They know I am in shape, they know when they bowl me they have to bring their game.

How do you stay in shape, Tommy?

TB: On the road it is hard so I try to do the best I can. But at home I do a lot of cardio and weights. I do one body part a day. I will do chest one day, arms one day, legs one day. But when you're on the road, it's hard. Like I was looking for a YMCA because I am a member of the Y, and I went looking for the one that was supposed to be out here but it wasn't there anymore. I know I am in better shape than some of those guys and that's what motivates me to keep going back to the gym and make sure I feel good about myself, feel healthy. It keeps me positive, and then everything else follows with that.

What separates guys like yourself who have kept at it for so long from guys like Joe Berardi or John Mazza who left the game seemingly for good?

TB: For those guys they had families with kids and they were tired of being on the road away from their families. For me, I still have a family, but some guys love the road and some hate it. I am one of those who love the road. Even when I go home, my girlfriend Donna says 'What are we going to do? We've got to keep you busy!'

What do you love about the road?

TB: You're in a different city every week, the weather is always different, you always meet different kinds of people. You can do so many things. At home you can only do a certain amount of things, you've been there all your life.

There was some controversy when the senior tour lost its TV deal and the Generations Tour had its little run a couple years back, but the senior tour seems to be getting a bit more visibility since then-how healthy is the senior tour right now and where do you think it's headed?

TB: I don't want to say anything bad, but I think it's more in the wrong direction. I think next year we're lucky if we have eight tournaments. It's probably the cost of hosting the tournaments. The way the PBA is running it it's like they're just running it to break even and giving us token tournaments. That's the way I feel.

The senior tour is on the verge of welcoming in stars it has not seen since Earl Anthony turned 50 years old, guys like Walter Ray and, a few years down the road, Pete Weber. Brian Voss has already joined the senior circuit. Do you think that the senior tour might stand a chance of getting more national TV coverage if names like that are making Senior telecasts?

TB: I would hope so. If they didn't they're missing the boat. You know, with Walter Ray coming out, he is the winningest player of all time. If you don't promote him on the senior tour to give us more exposure than we have, something is wrong. I agree, Walter Ray coming out soon is big.

Not to be melodramatic about it, but is there any sense that Walter Ray might be capable of "saving" the Senior Tour?

TB: I don't really think so. They really push the younger guys, Tommy Jones, Wes Malott and those guys. They don't really use Walter in much of that. He did the Denny's commercial but other than that I guess he is just not a marketable guy when it comes to that stuff. He's a smart guy but they really don't use him as much as they should. I don't see it being any different on the senior tour. You know, they say 'Walter, you're our man. You're going to change the Senior Tour.' They said that about me, I was going to change it. And in some ways it has changed. I do think the senior tour has more credibility now.

What are some of the big differences between bowling the regular tour and the Senior Tour?

TB: Well the lane conditions are really the big difference. It's why I am not having as good a year this year as I did in the past. There was a bigger adjustment for me this year because last year you had to go in to out with the ball on the regular tour. Here on the senior tour they wall them up and guys go from right to left or right up and at them. Some guys love it because it keeps the donators coming back but guys like me it just leaves a sour taste in my mouth. In Hammond, though, it was better. The scoring was a little bit lower. Earlier in the year I think they made a mistake the way they did the lanes. People were calling it a joke. They were saying 'The seniors are averaging 230, how hard can it be?' Those were the comments. I take offense to that because I bowl on the regular tour and I can beat those guys and these senior players can really bowl. It's not easy out here. That's what guys find out, they say 'I'm going to go on the Senior Tour, it's easy.' Yeah, you couldn't beat the same guys twenty years ago, what makes you think you'll beat them now? But for me it was a bigger adjustment going from the regular tour to the senior tour this year because I was learning what balls work better on the regular tour and what balls work on the Senior Tour. It took some time to get to know that, I didn't really know enough going in. But I feel like I am bowling well again and I hope I can just keep going and carry on.