Surprised we haven't heard of Pittsburg Mike. I ran into two different ones. I think Pittsburg,Pa. and Pittsburg Ka. Maybe in the middle seventies. Mike from Pa. was known for staying up three or four days, usually til he went broke .. but I think he was a very good shortstop
Names from the past
- Thread starter jay helfert
- Start date
Pittsburg (KA) Mike lived in OKC during part of the 80s. Very good player. If I rember correctly, he developed a muscle condition in his neck that caused him to quit playing and move back to his home in KA.
Mr. Baker spends most of his days playing omaha at the casino. He hasn't touched his cue since our pool hall closed last July. It has just recently opened again so i am assuming he will be around. When i last saw him in Feb. his health was fine.
Naw--He ment Sweat Head---He played with a Fedora on all the time--well dressed and all he ever did was play pool in the Roanoke area--he and old Ollie would match up and play cheap one Pocket and both of em would come out 10 bucks ahead of each other when it was over--LOL--on the One pocket match with Beanie--Mr Staton won--if you could belive Jim Heldreath--LOL real loud---miss that one--Tim and I carried Jim around one the road for years--he couldn't stand the rooms hot and we couldn't stand them cold--rest in peace Pool Cue Jim--
Thanks! I still wonder how Sweat Head could afford to hang around the Sportsman all day long. A few years ago I heard that he was banned from Guys and Dolls for being freakn nuts/crazy LOL - I always thought he was nuts and crazy 30years prior to this.
THE PITTSBURG mike i know,is Mike Kasaris from washington pa,in the 70s or 80s he won the world championships on the bar box in vegas,it was a miller lite world series of tavern pool(something like that)he won 25 or 50 thou,he was a very strong bank pool player n 1pocket,played 9ball very good also!he came to stay awile in baltimore in the 90s,and was still a solid player then!
Yeah i think he is a real Dick,and also he only plays good when he is playing with himself!
Wasn't he also known as the cal kid?
Mostly known as Billy the Kid. He was one of many top shooters from the Bay Area. Last I heard, he was selling condos.
Howzabout Giles Darr...sometimes, he came down from the mountain. :scared:
Edit- Google sez:
http://newspaperarchive.com/the-bee/1953-08-08
8-8-1953 newspaper article referring to Front Royal VA star pitcker, Giles Darr.
http://www.poolmag.com/store/index.cfm/fuseaction/feature.display/feature_id/260/index.cfm
8th overall in Seniors Tour standings in 1998. (Looka @ #24!)
Edit- Google sez:
http://newspaperarchive.com/the-bee/1953-08-08
8-8-1953 newspaper article referring to Front Royal VA star pitcker, Giles Darr.
http://www.poolmag.com/store/index.cfm/fuseaction/feature.display/feature_id/260/index.cfm
8th overall in Seniors Tour standings in 1998. (Looka @ #24!)
Last edited:
How about Nick "the Indian" Vlahos. I heard he parlayed his road winnings into buying properties and one of the few I know of who was able to put his stakes towards a long term future. He terrorized the New England tour for years until his early passing.
I know some locals who have funny stories about Nick Vlahos. One of them being that his mother let him go to the pool hall only if he brushed his teeth as a youngster. Years later He was know to go into the bathroom with his toothbrush and brush his teeth during gambling sessions.
I also have heard he had a car with a folding lawn chair welded in as the drivers seat.
A true pool charecter.
Nick always was brushing his teeth at tournaments......and pick imaginary lint off the table constantly....He was a character and a pretty nice cat to boot.
Yeah another good player. Had a lot of success playing in bar table tourneys, won a bunch of them. I doubt he's retired, probably only in his early 50's now. His wife Bonnie played good too. Still does I think.
Anyone remember Louie Lemke? I really liked him. He was a very talented musician and could sing also. I saw him sit in with a few banks and acquit himself well. Died too young.
Louie was a great guy who lived and played here for a while in the early
90s. He was a very talented player with either hand, and played 3 cushion also. Louie was a free spirit that loved pool, blues music and vegetarian food. He was a really nice guy and I still remember him forcing guys to take more weight in games that he clearly had the best of. He had 2 sons that died in a snowstorm in Minnesota in 1984, which was the year he won the BCA 8-ball championship. Louie himself died at 47 from pancreatic cancer in 1999. Here's a couple of pics from back then. Had to dig real deep in the stash to find these-under the David Rhodes pics. Don't get me started on THAT guy:smile:
