Are there two "Boston Shorty's"?

V

VelvetRaccoon

New member
Larry Johnson aka Boston Shorty exhibits the draw shot at http://www.billiebilliards.com/pointers.html

I’ve always heard that “Boston Shorty’s” name was Larry Johnson. But I recently read an article that said that Boston Shorty's "real" name was Mort Goldberg, 1916 - 1996. The article is on http://wikipedia.com which is normally a good source of information. Oddly enough, the website lists Larry as an American Pool Player but they do not have any other material about Larry Johnson, 1929-2000.

Both men seem to have similar information about their playing careers and have different birth and death dates. Strange.

Loretta
 
Only one.

If the late Larry Johnson could hear you call him a Goldberg, he'd spin clear out of the ground. There's only one Boston Shorty, the winner of more one-pocket tourneys than any player in history. GF
 
George Fels said:
If the late Larry Johnson could hear you call him a Goldberg, he'd spin clear out of the ground. There's only one Boston Shorty, the winner of more one-pocket tourneys than any player in history. GF
Click to expand...

Exactly! Wayta go, George!
 
George Fels said:
If the late Larry Johnson could hear you call him a Goldberg, he'd spin clear out of the ground. There's only one Boston Shorty, the winner of more one-pocket tourneys than any player in history. GF
Click to expand...

Great 3-cushion player too.

RIP Shorty.

Thanks

Kevin
 
Larry Johnson did have another pool moniker other than Boston Shorty.

Larry Liscoti would affectionately call him 'Short Stop'.

...he added a few shots to my 3-cushion repertoire....every time I saw
him where there was a carom table I would show him a shot that I played
like a pool player, and he would straighten me out. Some of them were
simple solutions "Hit it rail-first."...he'd say in that raspy voice.

I think of him every time they come up.
 
Was there really a Boston Shorty?

This thread reminds me of one from a few years ago when a poster posed this question,"Was there really a person called, CornBreadRed?"

Larry Johnson = Boston Shorty. We also called him Short -stuff or
Shaaww-tie.

Beard
 
pt109 said:
Larry Johnson did have another pool moniker other than Boston Shorty.

Larry Liscoti would affectionately call him 'Short Stop'.

...he added a few shots to my 3-cushion repertoire....every time I saw
him where there was a carom table I would show him a shot that I played
like a pool player, and he would straighten me out. Some of them were
simple solutions "Hit it rail-first."...he'd say in that raspy voice.

I think of him every time they come up.
Click to expand...

One of shortys expressions during ring game 9 ball in the back room at Johnston City when he finally got his turn at the table....it was a 4 or 5 handed game....he already faded 5 runs outs before his turn and he got hooked good....and I quote....''this is the shits''. :)
Never saw any other player, use as much talc on his cue as the shorster' did, would put it in both hands, and rub it up/down the full length of his cue, clap his hands together and get back to it. Don't know if he did this because of the humidity in s. IL or if he always did this, G.Fels may know.
 
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To say nothing of the infamous Ichabod "Shorter Than Some Taller Than Others" Grauwyler...

Lost to the depths of time...
 
Mort Goldberg (Who's he?) just tried to capitalize on Shorty's famous name, just like Fats did so successfully after The Hustler came out. I'd like to see old Mort get on the same table with the real Shorty. He would have got BAR-B-QUED! Shorty was a real player, not a pretender.

I'll tell you this, if Shorty was allowed to get up on the table, NO ONE in the world would have to like it! That's how he rolled. In the heyday of Ronnie Allen and Eddie Taylor, Shorty won more One Pocket titles then both of them combined! Think about it. :thumbup:

P.S. Shorty played Ronnie one time in Detroit (I wasn't there) and they played EVEN! It was a Race to five or six and Ronnie won by one game. That's the only time I've heard of them playing for money. Shorty told me in Vegas that he thought he could have won but it would have killed all his action. I do think that he wanted to win though, this was just his way of salving his ego.

P.P.S. Shorty was the best player with the bridge that I ever saw. He could shoot any shot using it! What a sweet touch he had with that bridge.
 
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Island Drive said:
One of shortys expressions during ring game 9 ball in the back room at Johnston City when he finally got his turn at the table....it was a 4 or 5 handed game....he already faded 5 runs outs before his turn and he got hooked good....and I quote....''this is the shits''. :)
Never saw any other player, use as much talc on his cue as the shorster' did, would put it in both hands, and rub it up/down the full length of his cue, clap his hands together and get back to it. Don't know if he did this because of the humidity in s. IL or if he always did this, G.Fels may know.
Click to expand...

Bill

Isn't there a big NBA star that makes a big production of talcing his hands and clapping a cloud of talc before the game? I know I've seen it and it always reminds me of Shorty. Didn't Shorty when he was done talcing everything, both sided of the joint, wrap and all, "clean" his hands by slapping them on the table, thereby leaving hand prints and a mess? All part of the show I figured.

Kevin
 
jay helfert said:
Mort Goldberg (Who's he?) just tried to capitalize on Shorty's famous name, just like Fats did so successfully after The Hustler came out. I'd like to see old Mort get on the same table with the real Shorty. He would have got BAR-B-QUED! Shorty was a real player, not a pretender.

I'll tell you this, if Shorty was allowed to get up on the table, NO ONE in the world would have to like it! That's how he rolled. In the heyday of Ronnie Allen and Eddie Taylor, Shorty won more One Pocket titles then both of them combined! Think about it. :thumbup:

P.S. Shorty played Ronnie one time in Detroit (I wasn't there) and they played EVEN! It was a Race to five or six and Ronnie won by one game. That's the only time I've heard of them playing for money. Shorty told me in Vegas that he thought he could have won but it would have killed all his action. I do think that he wanted to win though, this was just his way of salving his ego.

P.P.S. Shorty was the best player with the bridge that I ever saw. He could shoot any shot using it! What a sweet touch he had with that bridge.
Click to expand...

And he loved the ladies....................
 
VelvetRaccoon said:
Larry Johnson aka Boston Shorty exhibits the draw shot at http://www.billiebilliards.com/pointers.html

I’ve always heard that “Boston Shorty’s” name was Larry Johnson. But I recently read an article that said that Boston Shorty's "real" name was Mort Goldberg, 1916 - 1996. The article is on http://wikipedia.com which is normally a good source of information. Oddly enough, the website lists Larry as an American Pool Player but they do not have any other material about Larry Johnson, 1929-2000.

Both men seem to have similar information about their playing careers and have different birth and death dates. Strange.

Loretta
Click to expand...




There was only one Boston Storty, now I suspect Shorty had a Shorty but doesn't make two, it only makes him a Man, and great man he certainly was.

JIMO
 
kvinbrwr said:
Bill

Didn't Shorty when he was done talcing everything, both sided of the joint, wrap and all, "clean" his hands by slapping them on the table, thereby leaving hand prints and a mess? All part of the show I figured.

Kevin
Click to expand...

Yes!!! :) Shorty did this during 3-cushion tournaments where the tables were in pristine condition, plenty of air conditioning and the players purists. So it wasn't just because of humidity. After his talcing before a match, Shorty would rub both hands on the newly covered tables and make a hell of a mess. The players rolled their eyes and the spectators laughed. Great entertainment for sure. More than once I saw his opponent ask for a brushing of the table before they began play.

dave
 
Larry Johnson, (Boston Shorty), and I played many a session.

I was lucky enough to catch him late in his career. We played at George Rippe's place in Lawrence, Mass. and Late night sessions at Morrisey Blvd in Dorchester, Mass.

We bet it up pretty good for those days and the money went mostly back and forth.

He was truly a great player and I learned many a new shot from him and many a move. We always played push-out. Larry wouldn't play any other way but Getting on the table and push-out.

He liked to bet and only respected people that did the same thing.

We miss you Larry. I'll always be indebted to you for helping me take my game to the highest level. If I didn't, you would have broke me.

___________________________________________

http://tommcgonaglerightoncue.com
 
A word from Fats

One of Fats' best lines:

"Before he played me, Boston Shorty was 6 feet tall."

A great pair.


Ed
 
I used to see Shorty in the Boston Area. I always wanted to see if i could have bought one of his trademark hats off of him i never had the nerve to ask. He died not long after. I collect old hats and figured a hat from a champion player would have been cool to own.

Shorty used to play at the Boston Motel or the BoMo he could have lived there or in the area. So I'm about 22 a kid who worked on a construction crew with me, his family owned the joint. So I'm in there one night playing stiffs for drinks and getting drunk:D...

Shorty is on the other table basically doing the same thing:D...Finally some guy who had been watching me play goes over to Shorty and tries to get him into a money game with me. Shorty would'nt play me even if he did I might of played him for a couple of bucks, but the guy thought he had a big fish on the line. I had the advanced scouting report even at a young age.

The funny part of the story is I told the kid I worked with that Shorty was a world champion. He just said Larry? No way... I should have jumped on that chance and bet him a paycheck Shorty was a World Champ...easy money
 
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