Jayson Shaw on a roll.

[ShootingArts]

Looking at the shot carefully part of the secret of the "fast cloth" is revealed. The cue ball was in the air more than it was rolling most of the time for the first few rails. Cloths may come and go but air stays much the same!

There simply wasn't anything like today's cloth on any commercial table of that day so I would say the chances of finding fast or even what we would consider normal cloth today was very close to zero. The table would have to have been recovered with something that wasn't considered pool table cloth at the time. Sticks were heavier and strokes were solider than today's.

I embarrassed myself playing on heavy wet cloth that was on a ten footer across the levee from the Mississippi River. No AC and there was a huge fan in the wall sucking in that dank air off of the river. The cue was big enough around that my fingers couldn't reach my thumb. Even with these baseball bats there were a few times I shot and the object ball didn't reach the pocket.

Two and a half inch thick slate on those five by tens. I stopped there any time I could. Oh yeah, clay balls too. Good times!

Hu

 

[mcjack]

Congratulations to Jayson Shaw. What an amazing week. Jayson is the only player in History to break the 500 ball mark 3x in straight pool with a high run of 560 on April 5th surpassing Willie Mosconi’s high run of 526 for the 2nd time. Then takes a few days off to prepare for the Players Championship at the SBE with a very tough field and snaps off the Matchroom points event for another big title.
What’s next for the G.O.A.T. Of 14.1 High Runs? I see 1,000ville coming soon.

John Schmitt had a high run of 626 in 2019, and Jason beat his record with a run of 714 balls in 2022.

 

[Mensabum]

Just one other point, which has been mentioned in passing about the table Mosconi set his record on: a smaller table is tougher to run balls on.

I know this first hand because my home room with Diamond tables has been closed for a few months to relocate. So I've been playing at a walk up bowling alley with five 9' Anniversary tables. The tables are well maintained but the playing area on the Anniversarys is slightly smaller than on a Diamond. And I find it is much tougher to run the balls. When I practice, I have thought to myself that this would have been the type of equipment Mosconi would have encountered over and over traveling the country. It is mind blowing to me that he could still walk into a room like that cold, turn to the crowd and ask, "Would you like to see a 100 ball run?"

And do it.

Lou Figueroa
mind
blowing

So that's where you've been hiding... Big S. Lol.
They spent a bunch a coin refurbishing those tables. Gonna hafta visit soon.

 

[lfigueroa]

So that's where you've been hiding... Big S. Lol.
They spent a bunch a coin refurbishing those tables. Gonna hafta visit soon.

They are in very nice shape, albeit in green cloth : -)

Lou Figueroa

 

[G&M]

... and yet we always have. Witnesses have sufficed in the past, as was the case with Mosconi. Charlie Ursitti, whom I knew well, is as reliable a witness as there is.

I recall Irving Crane's comment after learning of Babe Cranfield's run of 768. After noting that nobody had more 300+ runs than Babe, he added that he knew of no man of higher integrity than Babe, and that if Babe claimed to have run 768, it was reliable. That's good enough for me. Of course, it was a practice run and not an exhibition run, so it is not the record, but I feel absolutely certain that the run occurred.

Still, Jayson topping 500 on three different occasions is a massive accomplishment, one to be celebrated. I feel certain he'll realize his dream of 1,000 one day.

Hi Stu, great to see you today at Amsterdam Billiards! In the late ‘70s, I got to see Irving Crane and Babe Cranfield play an exhibition match. They were past their prime, and neither one played great that day. Still, they competed hard. You could tell they had tremendous respect for each other, but they definitely were not chummy either.

Babe has said that he felt lucky to grow up close to Crane because getting to play that caliber player on a regular basis improved his game tremendously.

 

[justnum]

Does Jayson listen to music, drink alcohol, change his socks or shoes, during his long attempts at world record 14.1 runs?

Sometimes staying motivated in 14.1 is challenging it can feel like studying math.

Does Jayson plan to revive 14.1 as a competitive sport? He is operating with more exposure than snooker players.

To a general audience pool players are more famous than snooker players, the seediness is appealing.

Everyone knows who Cesar Morales is right?

 

[G&M]

I too have heard of Irv Crane's comments on that run and also his asessment of Babe's integrity is or was of the highest order. If I'm not mistaken wasn't it also Carl Zingale who vouched for that run, I think I remember Jay commenting on that. I believe that run probably did occur. This takes nothing away from Jason's accomplishment which is mind boggling in and of itself!

That’s correct, Mr. Zingale (Cue Ball Kelly) was interviewed on some network sports show by Don Criqui and spoke about Babe running over 700.

 

[sjm]

Hi Stu, great to see you today at Amsterdam Billiards! In the late ‘70s, I got to see Irving Crane and Babe Cranfield play an exhibition match. They were past their prime, and neither one played great that day. Still, they competed hard. You could tell they had tremendous respect for each other, but they definitely were not chummy either.

Babe has said that he felt lucky to grow up close to Crane because getting to play that caliber player on a regular basis improved his game tremendously.

Yeah, good seeing you. Yes, Babe wasn't playing very well in the late 1970s, but it sounds like you caught Irving Crane on a bad day. In the late 1970's, he was still one of the ten best players at 14.1 in the world. By about 1983, Irving's game had gone way downhill.

As you note, they weren't exactly pals, but they thought the world of each other.