Dean,
Here's a story for you and you may even know the guy.
I met an amazing road player back around 1970 when I was about 16 yeas old and was working in a pool hall.
I was working in a place called the Sportsman's Club in the bootheel of Missouri and this unknown guy shows up one day. He had dark hair and he was wearing one of those short-brimmed kind of fishing hats, a white t-shirt, double-knit golf-looking pants, and slip-on canvas deck shoes.
The reason I remember what he was wearing so well was because he looked so out-of-place and he stood out immediately. Most of the pool hall regulars wore jeans, work clothes, or something not so "preppy" looking. He was also driving a car that stood out...a black Eldorado Cadillac of the most recent model.
I don't remember really what storyline he used for being in town, but he sat up at the bar, drinking a beer, and watched people play 9-ball ring games for a day or so before he ever made a move.
After a couple days, he somehow managed to get into the games and he made a ball or two every once in a while, but he held the stick clumsily and always looked to be lucky. While in these games, he managed to always lose and I would imagine he lost several hundred dollars over the next few days.
After a couple days, the better players, who also had day jobs, would rush in after work just hoping this guy was there because he seemed such an easy mark and he always lost.
Around a week had passed and he would still be playing them, but at the end he would ask the winner (usually the better player) if he could have a chance to get his money back. They couldn't wait to jump his ass one-on-one because they were just sure they would get all his money and be driving his Cadillac if they were lucky.
As the stakes increased, he steadily got better and his cuemanship wasn't quite so clumsy.
To make a long story short...he went from being easy money to SUPERMAN in a week. He killed everybody in the area and wound up giving everybody who would bet a dime the 7, 8, 9 and the break.
Over the course of time that he was in town, I got to talk to him quite a bit and he confided a few things to me that I had already observed, but maybe he thought I didn't know. When he got a bit 'better", day by day, playing solo games, he had slipped his own one-piece cue in the back door and stashed it in the rack on the wall.
It was a standard one-piece cue that he had sanded down to his preferred taper, and he had a Le Pro tip on it, which made it stand out a bit from the sticks we had with Elk Master tips. I fixed the cues for the house and that was something that I noticed. It was 21 oz and had a 14mm tip.
When things were slow in the day, with no players around, he would show me shots and teach me things on how to improve my game. I asked him about his cue and he said he liked a heavy weight because lots of places had little or no A/C and the humidity caused the tables to be slower and he didn't want to have to smack the balls around. He also said he liked the 14mm tip because it gave him greater control and he liked it on the bar tables with the bigger cue ball. Like I said, I fixed the sticks and we never had Le Pros, so I never had tried one. He gave me a couple and we picked a 21 oz, 14mm ebony house cue out of our stock of sticks and I fixed me one up just like his. I have used his specs, with very little changes, over the last 50 years. I still have cues like that. The changes in playing conditions, over the years, don't make them the best for today, but they served me for many years, especially playing in the bars.
I asked him how come he used such a plain house cue once everyone now knew that he could kick some serious ass. He took me out to his Cadillac and opened the trunk and showed me his "top-of-the-line" Palmer. He said, "you don't think I could have snuck that one into the racks, do you?" His Palmer was built to the same specs as his "house cue".
It was the model in this photo at the bottom of this story.
The owner of the pool hall took him around the various pool halls and bars within a hundred mile radius over the next week or so and I went with them on a few occasions. This guy destroyed everybody he played.
One day, like the Lone Ranger, it was time for him to ride off into the sunset. He left and I never saw or heard a word about him again. I didn't know his name at the time, but the name he used was something like J. D. Tyler or Taylor. Whether that was his real name or not, I do not know. I later heard through the owner of the pool hall that this guy was from TX and he used to go on the road with a player called "Big Foot" who played even better than he did. I never saw Big Foot, so I can't attest to that. Supposedly, Big Foot would back J. D. and when the losers complained that they couldn't win playing him that Big Foot (who supposedly was just a backer, not a player) would say "pump it up and play me then". Then he would proceed to take the rest of their money.
There probably were, then and now, many players who could have given this guy a game or beaten him, but I have yet to see anybody go from chump to champion as smoothly as he did. It was strictly a scene from a movie with an Oscar-winning actor and I still wonder just how good this guy could have played if he really had somebody who played as well he did as an opponent.
Now that we are at the end of the story, I think you may know this guy.
Over the years, I have learned some more information and he turned out to be Jack Taylor, from Texas, Alfie Taylor's brother. Prior to coming to AZB, I had never heard of Alfie, nor his book.
If you knew Jack and have any stories about him, I'd appreciate hearing them. Seeing him robbing all those guys, and making it look so easy, will always be a fond memory.
In edit: I found a thread on here posted by Alfie. It was about Jack's passing. I'll quote the post here.
My friend, road partner and brother is gone
To all of my friends, whether we've met or not, who wrote such comforting, heartfelt words regarding my brother, Jack's passing. It not only was soothing to me, they will be read at Jack's service by his children. Many of you didn't know Jack and some even didn't know about him. For those of you who have not read about him in my book, please send me your address via
alft@alftaylor.com and I'll see what I can do about that.
Nobody ever rose up from their deathbed and said "I should have made more money." More likely, " I should have been better to my fellow man."
Alfie "Bicycle Willie" Taylor
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?390094&p=5079539#post5079539
I've never read Alfie's book, but I'm sure it has some good stories. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of it. Alfie, if you are out there somewhere, let me know if you have any more signed copies.
https://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Road-Alf-Taylor/dp/1450781462
And another link about Jack:
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=389639&highlight=jack+taylor
The tears are still in my eyes as I tell many of Jacks and my friends that he passed away last night in Galveston Texas. His wife, Cozy was at his side. A lot of stories abound in the pool world about Jack. In a world where slipping around was necessary, Jack could slip with the best of them. He was a real good pool player, a competent golfer and no stranger to cards. But, that was the Jack you all knew. At home or with his kids and grand kids he was loved with an intensity. I'm so happy that less than a month ago I got to spend a few days with him where he took me into his game room and ran out on me for hours.
To get the real picture of what kind of man Jack was you would have had to talk to Eddie Taylor or Minnesota Fats. Both were great friends and hustling partners with him. If you get a chance to talk to Buddy Hall, I'm sure he feels the same.
Jack taught me the game and tricks of the road when I was a kid. If you've read my book, you'll see how he also punched me out of some pretty tight spots. He wasn't like anyone else.
Oh Lord! How much I miss him already. Please, God. Bless and keep him.
Alf
Edit again: I originally told this story on here in 2011, before I was sure who Jack was.
There were some responses to my thread that helped me in gathering more information and there is a post where somebody said Bigfoot was also called "Tall Jimmy". A couple people added some of their own stories to that thread, as well.
https://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=240953&highlight=circa+1970