Miss Marlene

I love this song, but am very conflicted about it. I think it’s clear that the narrator thinks quite fondly of the young Miss Marlene. He likes her legs and her earrings, and appears to genuinely miss her after she goes. From there, things get so murky for me.
What does it mean to “Roll like a pro”? What is the reference to the “red ball” she drops to make “all the pins fall down?” Apparently, it doesn’t matter if she’s “straight or hammered.”

1. It’s a song about bowling. (Nah.) University Place in NY has a very upscale bowling alley. A pretty girl who bowls well, whom the narrator misses. www.bowlmor.com/union-square/
2. It’s a metaphor for oral sex, i.e. the best blow jobs in the world were given to the narrator by a seventeen year old girl that he misses. She rolled like a pro. She was the best in town. The pins fall down. The red ball is her uvula. She hugs the inside line (sensitive part of the penis), when the stakes were sky high. Can’t you hear the balls rumble. After she goes, on a “league night” (how boring) her hand guides his hand as he catches her scent again and thinks about her.
3. It’s a metaphor for drugs. Speedball and powerballing is the intravenous use of cocaine and heroin in the same syringe. (Please see John Belushi, Chris Farley, etc.etc.) “Rolling” is getting high, and she rolled like a pro. Red ball = heroin. The ball would ride a moonbeam down the inside line. (I.V. Drug use). Can’t you see hear the balls rumble? We’re still bowling every Saturday night.
4. The Mystery. What happens to Miss Marlene? She’s drinking heavily due a broken heart. She runs into the street and a cab comes up fast. The narrator sees her laughing face. Is she struck by the cab and killed? “I catch her sent again…her hand guiding my hand”. Sounds ghostly. But, he also appears to be inviting her to return. Can’t you hear the balls rumble? We’re still bowling every Saturday night.

Stumbled upon an interview with Donald Fagan on this song. I was 50% that Marlene survived and just moved on. But. Now we know. A beautiful young lady with exceptional skills has died tragically.

DF: Well, because when someone dies young, they’re preserved for all time in their youthful state. She was a sensitive girl, she was unlucky in love, and she kind of lost it there and there was a terrible taxicab accident, and, you know, s**t happens, right? ML: Also was a good bowler. Everybody loves a good bowler. DF: Excellent bowler.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/emsunken-condosem-a-conve_b_1965856.html

Of course when it's either member of Steely Dan, the interpretation of drug use is always reasonably likely. My interpretation though is that Miss Marlene was the victim of a suicide because of her being heartbroken.

This story begins in 2007 (007).The song is clearly about the tragic loss of Marlene who used to be a great bowler. There are several references to bowling: roll like a pro rolls, straight or hammered (not only meaning sober or drunk), release the red ball all the pins fall down, hear the balls rumble, move to the lane, ride a moonbeam down the inside line, on a league night, her hand guiding my hand we drop the seven-ten (the most difficult spare in bowling). The night of her fatal cab accident she was drunk (throwin' back Hurricanes = cocktail) because of a broken heart. Donald Fagen is a great narrator creating marvellous sentences using slang.

Besides the classic Fagan storytelling with subculture lingo, what strikes me (intended) is the irony of Marlene getting bowled over by a cab in the end. Genius.