Frank "Sailor" Stellman

[jason]

More info on the Sailor from George Fels:

http://www.billiardsdigest.com/showblogentry.php?id=84

 

[JAM]

Nice post.

A couple of pics would be cool.

Lou Figueroa

Ask and you shall receive!

 

[JAM]

JAM,
Mark Wilson has been working on his pool book for about 17 years...for the last 2 of those years I've been helping re-write it. Mark has dedicated his life totally to pool, and has some great stories included in the book (hopefully will be completed within the next few months). You will definitely like the stories it contains (though you have to wade through a textbook to get to them...though the stories are all in one long chapter).

Sounds good. We need more good literature in pool, so this endeavor will be welcome by pool enthusiasts around the world! :smile:

 

[JAM]

Interesting eBay item: Vintage Frank Stellman Sailor of Racine Pool Cue.

 

[JAM]

Cue shaft with "Sailor" imprinted on it.

 

[JAM]

Maker of pool cues from the early 1970s to present in Racine, Wisconsin.

Frank Stellman was a top straight pool player, establishing prominence in the Chicago area during the 1950s and 1960s. He earned the nickname "Sailor" from a tour in the Navy. In the early 1970s, Frank purchased Eddie Laube´s lathe and the Laube patent rights, and started making his own cues in his hometown of Racine, Wisconsin.

Sailor cues are identifiable by the name "Sailor" usually stamped into the forearms. They also can be identified by their unique flared butt caps, which may be black or white. (Frank refers to his cues as "the cue with the flair.") Most Sailor cues have a solid forearm, and most cues with points are made from full-spliced house cues, to accommodate the regional economy. He also made some cues with blanks by Burton Spain, which today demand a premium. Buck horn and mother-of-pearl are common materials for inlays. Boxed ringwork in maple and ebony is very common in the butt sleeves, with colored synthetic pearls being very common also. The use of ivory in Sailor cues is extremely rare. A few Sailor cues have been made by his son, Kelly.

Frank liked to take measurements, watch a player play, and make them a custom cue based on their size and playing style. He is also one of the best teachers in the game, with students that have become top professionals. He loves the game of pool, and he has a way of motivating and inspiring players to obtain peak performance. After making cues for over 25 years, Frank slowed down his cuemaking in the late 1990s.

If you have a Sailor cue that needs further identification or repair, contact Sailor Cues, listed in the Trademark Index

Source: Blue Book Publications [Retrieved 16 July 2011]

 

[JoeyA]

Very nice tribute, Don. I spent a little time with him in that shop of his and it is just as you say. The first time you come in for a lesson, it is mostly Sailor in your face talking to you about pool. I remember the talk about Pool Buffs and Purists. At his age, he said, he could not waste his time helping you unless you were dead serious about the game. When you went to the table, every shot had to be serious. He did not want you to go up there "wing dinging" the shots in. You had to be concerned about exactly where the cue ball was going. Sometimes, he'd tell me if I kept it up, I would be in danger of getting arrested for impersonating a pool player. Other times he suggested maybe I should go to the local Y and learn how to play volley ball instead. Nonetheless, even though I did not pick up on what he said, he would put up with me. I'd call and talk about straight pool and we'd be talking for 45 minutes or so. I think he did not like that I was learning from others and watching videos and such and figured that too many chefs would spoil the broth, but he put up with it for a while.

When I went up there we would just work on whatever shots he thought I should work on. Usually something with some interesting English and cue ball action. Again, and again and again. I was not ready for straight pool, he said because I did not have any tools in my tool chest. First you needed to develop the tools, then you could work.

Sailor spent a lot of time with Mosconi. Whenever Mosconi was in the Midwest, Sailor would volunteer to chauffeur him around so he could pepper him with questions and watch what he did. Mosconi finally suggested that if he wanted to learn straight pool, he should go see Joe Diehl in Rockford. So Sailor started going to Rockford and learned from Diehl. That is where he also met another good pool player, Charlie Cacciapaglia and a teenager named Dallas West.

For anyone in the neighborhood, he said he will be down at Red Shoes in Alsip, Illinois on July 23 for the World Straight Pool Qualifier. It is being live streamed and I asked him if he would do some commentary and he said he can't promise me anything because he would tell the truth. Maybe his old buddies, George Fels and Freddy the Beard can talk to him a little about straight pool while on the air. George Pawalski will also be there, so maybe. http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=236962

Dennis,
When I read posts like yours and Don's, I realize why I enjoy the forum so much. All of the posts about The Sailor from Racine, are in a sense, a masterpiece, a painting in progress and I like what I see.
Unfortunately, I have not been bitten by the bug of 14.1 but still enjoy the threads about it and especially the stories about the older players such as Frank Stellman. I can fully envision his passion for pool through the posts made about him.

With the "gathering" of these legends of pool, I sorely wish I would be there in person for this event. I sorely wish I could be there for this "gathering" of these legends of straight pool. I can only imagine with glee, Sailor discussing the sacrifices that are necessary to be a true student of the game.

 

[Williebetmore]

Dennis,
When I read posts like yours and Don's, I realize why I enjoy the forum so much. All of the posts about The Sailor from Racine, are in a sense, a masterpiece, a painting in progress and I like what I see.
Unfortunately, I have not been bitten by the bug of 14.1 but still enjoy the threads about it and especially the stories about the older players such as Frank Stellman. I can fully envision his passion for pool through the posts made about him.

With the "gathering" of these legends of pool, I sorely wish I would be there in person for this event. I sorely wish I could be there for this "gathering" of these legends of straight pool. I can only imagine with glee, Sailor discussing the sacrifices that are necessary to be a true student of the game.

JA,
I believe Sailor played all games well (including one pocket), it is just that as a man of keen intelligence, he recognized that straight pool is, was, and always will be the "championship game."

 

[lfigueroa]

Ask and you shall receive!

ah, I know Mark and have played him a few times.

I was thinking more Sailor photos

Lou Figueroa

 

[lfigueroa]

Maker of pool cues from the early 1970s to present in Racine, Wisconsin.

Frank Stellman was a top straight pool player, establishing prominence in the Chicago area during the 1950s and 1960s. He earned the nickname "Sailor" from a tour in the Navy. In the early 1970s, Frank purchased Eddie Laube´s lathe and the Laube patent rights, and started making his own cues in his hometown of Racine, Wisconsin.

Sailor cues are identifiable by the name "Sailor" usually stamped into the forearms. They also can be identified by their unique flared butt caps, which may be black or white. (Frank refers to his cues as "the cue with the flair.") Most Sailor cues have a solid forearm, and most cues with points are made from full-spliced house cues, to accommodate the regional economy. He also made some cues with blanks by Burton Spain, which today demand a premium. Buck horn and mother-of-pearl are common materials for inlays. Boxed ringwork in maple and ebony is very common in the butt sleeves, with colored synthetic pearls being very common also. The use of ivory in Sailor cues is extremely rare. A few Sailor cues have been made by his son, Kelly.

Frank liked to take measurements, watch a player play, and make them a custom cue based on their size and playing style. He is also one of the best teachers in the game, with students that have become top professionals. He loves the game of pool, and he has a way of motivating and inspiring players to obtain peak performance. After making cues for over 25 years, Frank slowed down his cuemaking in the late 1990s.

If you have a Sailor cue that needs further identification or repair, contact Sailor Cues, listed in the Trademark Index

Source: Blue Book Publications [Retrieved 16 July 2011]

That's better

Lou Figueroa

 

[Island Drive]

Dennis,
When I read posts like yours and Don's, I realize why I enjoy the forum so much. All of the posts about The Sailor from Racine, are in a sense, a masterpiece, a painting in progress and I like what I see.
Unfortunately, I have not been bitten by the bug of 14.1 but still enjoy the threads about it and especially the stories about the older players such as Frank Stellman. I can fully envision his passion for pool through the posts made about him.

With the "gathering" of these legends of pool, I sorely wish I would be there in person for this event. I sorely wish I could be there for this "gathering" of these legends of straight pool. I can only imagine with glee, Sailor discussing the sacrifices that are necessary to be a true student of the game.

Joey, try this, play straight pool for a couple months and practice with another for time or whatever. You will find, it will improve your rotation and 8ball games immensley.

 

[dmgwalsh]

ah, I know Mark and have played him a few times.

I was thinking more Sailor photos

Lou Figueroa

Lou: Here's one a few years back at the Illinois Billiard Club, one from Red Shoes and an older one of Sailor and Willie.

 

[Scott Lee]

Great pics Dennis! Thanks for sharing! Looks like Sailor plays 3-C too, in the top picture!

Scott Lee
www.poolknowledge.com

 

[JE54]

Good story and nice pictures.............

 

[JoeyA]

Joey, try this, play straight pool for a couple months and practice with another for time or whatever. You will find, it will improve your rotation and 8ball games immensley.

I will try it for a couple of months. Thanks! I need the improvement that's for sure.

 

[Williebetmore]

I will try it for a couple of months. Thanks! I need the improvement that's for sure.

JA,
I'll be in NOLA for about 5 days in October (18th thru 23rd); perhaps we can play some 14.1 and some one pocket. Do I look for you at Buffalo Billiards in Metairie? I'll be at the Intercontinental Hotel, if its not too far I'm hopeful I can make it over for some pool.

 

[JoeyA]

JA,
I'll be in NOLA for about 5 days in October (18th thru 23rd); perhaps we can play some 14.1 and some one pocket. Do I look for you at Buffalo Billiards in Metairie? I'll be at the Intercontinental Hotel, if its not too far I'm hopeful I can make it over for some pool.

There is a big bar table tournament in Lafayette, LA. ($40,000.00 Calcutta) in October and I don't like to miss it. I'll check the date and if it doesn't interfere, you're on. As far as transportation is concerned, you can just call JoeyA's Poolplay-ahs Cab Service.

 

[lfigueroa]

Lou: Here's one a few years back at the Illinois Billiard Club, one from Red Shoes and an older one of Sailor and Willie.

Don't know what happen to the last two photos but I did see them (I think). Thanks, Dennis.

Lou Figueroa

 

[Williebetmore]

There is a big bar table tournament in Lafayette, LA. ($40,000.00 Calcutta) in October and I don't like to miss it. I'll check the date and if it doesn't interfere, you're on. As far as transportation is concerned, you can just call JoeyA's Poolplay-ahs Cab Service.

JA,
If the tourney is that weekend (22nd/23rd), I'll arrange to stay and play in it. Let me know the details when you find out.

 

[JoeyA]

JA,
If the tourney is that weekend (22nd/23rd), I'll arrange to stay and play in it. Let me know the details when you find out.

The big Calcutta bar table tournament is October 8 & 9th. Lafayette is about an hour and a half drive from New Orleans.