Champ Frank Taberski Plays "Chinese" Pool

Here's some footage of Frank Taberski playing "Chinese Pool," which was a popular variation of the game during the early 20th Century. Mike Shamos, in his excellent New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards, described Chinese Pool as a game "in which the cue ball is not stroked but is instead rolled down the groove formed by two cue sticks held parallel to one another."

The origin of the game's rather un-PC name remains unclear. Shamos notes that Americans at the turn of the century commonly applied the adjective "Chinese" to anything done in an unusual fashion. He also speculates that it "may relate to the chopstick-like appearance of two cues held together."

Taberski (the nation's dominant player shortly before the reign of Ralph Greenleaf) could easily run a rack or more playing this odd variety of the game.

Two stories about Greenleaf's marital problems.

Here are two stories about Ralph Greenleaf's marital problems. They include references to a missing tooth, a hurled ashtray, Greenleaf surrendering all his money to one his wives and "barbarous treatment." Both articles are from the Chicago Tribune. The first article identifies Greenleaf's wife as "Beatrice." It's from Dec. 24, 1924. The second is from December 20, 1933 -- almost exactly 9 years later -- and references the more well known of Greenleaf's wives, Amelia Ruth Parker, also known as the Princess Nai Tai Tai. She was a Vaudeville performer. I've referenced the hurled ashtray incident in an earlier post. You can also see a picture of Greenleaf with the Princess in that earlier post. Despite the divorce papers, Amelia Ruth Parker and Greenleaf remained together until his death in 1950.

Pool History Now on Twitter!

The old meets the new: pool history meets the Twitter network. I'm trying to keep my tweeting pretty narrowly focused on pool history. That means no recounting of what I had for dinner, or whether I'll make it home in time for The Daily Show. So if you're not already subscribing to the pool history blog, you can now keep up with the latest posts by following @PoolHistoryBlog on Twitter.

America's Best Ever Pool Player? You Decide

Who is America's best ever pool player? The poll on the top right of this page lists some all-time favorites, including recent Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Archer. I've left Willie Hoppe off the list because he was known as one of the best-ever billiards players, as opposed to one of the best-ever pool players. Neither have I included one of my personal favorites, Efren "Bata" Reyes. As he's from the Philippines, I figured I'd save him for a future poll of the greatest international players. I've also tried to get a good mix of players from different eras. (Van Boening vs. Greenleaf?!) Vote early. Vote often. I'll leave the poll up for awhile. Also, if you have a write-in candidate, feel free to comment at the bottom of this post. I'll tally up the write-ins later, along with those listed on the ballot.

Although he was one of the most recognizable sports figures of the Jazz Age, the great Ralph Greenleaf nonetheless would inexplicably vanish from time to time. In one of my recent columns, I wrote about Greenleaf going AWOL in 1946. He showed up later. He was probably on an extended bender. I've reproduced here a small portion of another article from the Chicago Tribune that references "a nation-wide search" for Greenleaf in 1936. According to the article, Greenleaf showed up inexplicably in a neighborhood pool hall, where he introduced himself as the "former world's champion billiards player." The patrons said he amazed the crowd with a number of "fancy shots" before vanishing once again.

A Willie Mosconi & Ralph Greenleaf Mystery

Here's a mystery. In 1934, shortly after Willie Mosconi and Ralph Greenleaf competed together in a national championship, the two icons supposedly went on the road together. Mosconi told stories about the road trip in his biography, written with Stanley Cohen. Both Mosconi and Greenleaf supposedly had been contracted by Brunswick Billiards to promote the sport during a series of exhibition matches.

Here's the mystery part: as far as I know, no one has ever produced any sort of independent confirmation of this long series of exhibition matches. I myself have gone through hundreds of articles in the New York Times, The Chicago Tribune and elsewhere, but have never come across a reference. I've asked a few other guys about this -- including pool historians Charles Ursitti and Mike Shamos -- and they agree that they've never come across any any sort of advertisement or news article to provide independent confirmation of the 1934 Greenleaf and Mosconi tour.

The problem may be that without a description of when and where these exhibition matches were played, it's hard to know in which newspapers to look, and in which editions. So I put it to the blogosphere: Has anyone out there hoarded an old article or advertisement from their hometown newspaper? Or how about this: Does anyone even KNOW anybody who's still alive who knew Ralph Greenleaf or his wife, the Princess Nai Tai Tai? I recently wrote about Harold Houle. But such folks are now tough to find.

Very Early Efren Reyes

I was just flipping through my old pool books the other day, trying to track down a bit of info for a column, when I rediscovered this interesting passage in John Grissim's book, Billiards. Grissim describes an encounter he had during the mid-1970s with a player from the Philippines. At the time, this player -- who went by the nickname "Bata" -- was wholly unknown outside that country. Grissim was traveling around Asia when he came across the then 20-something-year-old kid in a Manilla pool hall.

"I allowed myself to be steered into the money game, an in-and out affair in which the starting bet was 21 pesos, about three dollars," explained Grissim. "My opponent, a good looking kid named Efren Reyes, was taking some ribbing from friends as he chalked up.... As a score of spectators crowded around Efren broke the balls, leaving an open table but only one decent shot, barely -- those old five by tens are big tables. That was all she wrote. The kid ran out. Efren had the smooth motions and subtle touch that charaterize excellent players everywhere, regardless of age."

Reyes, of course, later gained a reputation as one of the very best players in the world. Grissim's quick pool match occurred about a decade before Reyes first came to the United States under an assumed name.

One other note. In his description of his quick eight-ball match, Grissim describes a variation of the game in which he and Reyes were required to pocket the one and the 15 into the side pockets. This variation is common in Latin America. It's called "jugando con la zona." I played this way many times when I lived in Costa Rica. It raises questions as to how this variation spread to the Philippines, which also has Spanish colonial roots.

Alfredo De Oro, Cuban billiards player

[Alfredo De Oro, Cuban billiards player] (LOC), originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

Here's a cool picture of Alfredo de Oro, the Cuban-born billiards legend. The picture is from the Library of Congress. I found it posted on flickr. Alfredo de Oro won some of the first straight pool championships, in 1912 and 1913. He also won at Continuous Pool, a precursor to straight pool, and "61 Pool." You can read more about Alfredo De Oro's records in the BCA's official Rules and Record Book.

P.P. Tornich

P.P. Tornich, originally uploaded by jbpics.

Here's a very cool picture that someone graciously posted on my billiards history group at Flickr. The person responsible, one John Bosco, has a collection of vintage photographs. "I've been diligently gathering up all of the old images I can find, (most all of them are original glass plate and celluloid negatives), for nearly twenty years now," says Mr. Bosko. This picture is entitled "P.P. Tornich". I don't know why. It was apparently taken around 1915.

Looking for Mosconi Video

Reader Brad Bowlin from Nashville, Tennessee has put out an all points bulletin for old Willie Mosconi videos. The 29 year old says he's been playing pool for the last seven years "and from Day 1 Willie Mosconi has been my idol." Brad notes that he himself has taken a very Mosconi-like dim view of hustlers ("most are thugs or thug wanna-a-bes") and admires Mosconi for the speed in which he played.

"My Question for you is: 'Do you know if there are ANY old video footage of young Willie Mosconi shooting in his prime in an entire match of Straight?" Or even video footage of an exhibition match from the 60s? I'm just looking for something when he still shot particularly fast. I've read his Willie's Game at least three times and maybe even four, and when reading that book (and now your book) the scenes just play out in my head. I can see it all happening and I'd love to be able to have those matches on video to show some friends."

Brad says he has the Willie V Caras Dinner Match video from Accu-Stats. But that was taped around 1999, well past Mosconi's prime. He also has seen the footage of Mosconi's Great Shootout with Fats, which was the subject of my book The Hustler & The Champ. What Brad wants is something earlier, an entire straight pool match, say, where "Mosconi Would almost be running around the table while he was shooting!"

To answer Brad's question: I have come across some old newsreel footage of Mosconi, which I've added above. You can also find more material at the separate Willie Mosconi blog. But I'm always looking for more so I'll join Brad in his call. Anybody with any old footage of Mosconi or any of the other greats -- please send them in (or at least post them on Youtube so they get preserved on the Internet). More Mosconi video would be great, but I'd love to also see more footage of Jersey Red or Boston Shorty or any of the pre-70s lions. And what about an interview with Ralph Greenleaf?