Willie Mosconi
Willie Mosconi is considered to be one of the best pool players in the history of the game. Between the years of 1941 and 1956, he won the United States states pool championship eighteen times. During those years, the game that was played was called straight pool, or 14.1 continuous. This game is considered by most top players as more difficult than today's championship pool game, 9-ball.
Willie Mosconi holds a record that may never be beat. He once ran 526 balls in a row in an exhibition of straight pool. He never missed; he quit after making the 526th ball.
Willie Mosconi was the technical consultant for the move "The Hustler". He had a cameo role as a "stakes holder". The movie resulted in a boom in the popularity of pool.
Wille Mosconi was born in 1913 in Philidelphia. His father owned a pool hall and supposedly tried to keep him away from the game at first. At 19 years old, due to his showing in a national event in Minneapolis, he played in an event with the best players in the world, and finished in the upper half.
He was hired by Brunswick which had touring professionals to promote their products and did so throughout the thirties.
From 1940 to 1941 a league sponsored by billiard halls with 8 players, and a full round robin took place. Mosconi was sponsered by a hall in New York called McGirr's. He dominated this series, and ran 125 balls from the break five times when only two other players in history had ever run 125 from the break.
He continued to dominate pool into the mid 1950s. Few pool players have dominated the game like Willie Mosconi.
References
- Billiards: The Official Rules and Records Book 1992
- Billiard Digest, Vol 16, No. 2
Referenced By
12 September | 12th September | 1993 in sports | 27 June | 27th June | Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame | Historical anniversaries/June 27 | June 27 | June 27th | List of people by name: Mo | Rudolph Wanderone | September 12 | September 12th
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