late 50's - early 80's Gettysburg area action player

Any info or memories of Buzz (Conrad) Wagaman?
Lived right on Mason Dixon line, played mostly in Baltimore but would travel anywhere in the NE to match up. NJ, Philly, & of course Newport, VA.

thanks!

smt

Must have been even further under the radar than my impression.

Buzz was, of course, locally famous. But most of his pool money was made out of the area. He did not have the typical vices, (didn't drink, e.g.) Though he could be rowdy. Never left his job in construction pouring and finishing concrete. Would do that all day, shower and sleep, then go out late & play pool all night somewhere if he heard of a score to be had. The reputation was he never quit a guy except that at 5AM it was understood he had to leave to go to work. No drugs, either, just a high energy individual who slept in the afternoon, got up to play pool at night, and then went to work. Late 60's he bought property and built a house paid for by pool. In the mid 70's I knew his 6 figure bank account through a 3rd party. He went where there was action, apparently mostly won the money, and banked it.

I knew him through construction as much as pool, and only ever saw him play locally on bar tables. By the late 70's/early 80's he claimed he "couldn't shoot anymore" but the rep was big enough that local "young guns" would save up a few $hundred and call him out to play 9-ball on a bar box somewhere for cheap $10 or $20 games until they were bust again. Aside from guys challenging him who knew the rep, hustling lower speed players was way beneath him he didn't do it. But he would sometimes set up games out of the area where money could be made. Lose a few hundred, then go back for a bigger score when the opponent had a backer. Also had a sort of pool practice partner, "Sarge" somebody and they would play fast games of one-pocket extended sessions trading 20's or 50's back and forth all night. (In the 70's)

Was kind of curious if any MD players like JAM had seen bigger matches in more prosperous venues. Apparently Buzz just kept a low profile, (mostly) won the money, and went home. He's still alive, heard his eyesight is failing.

smt

He lives in Littlestown

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That sounds very likely!
I was a banger level player trying to learn the game. But i could fix cues, make parts and tooling for tables, and some of the guys in the scene kind of took me under their wing. Particularly a local guy (RIP) who built tables and had coincidentally grown up with Buzz. Apparently his objective had been to become good enough to beat John (table builder) from which point John never picked up a cue again except to put tips on them for bars. They were both a good 15 years older than me.

So the stories i repeat were from a reputable, close, "friendly" source. But beyond that it's a case of trying to get a real-world take on a local legend. Good, bad, neutral. I've been close to some interesting people in several walks of life and came to realize too late that i failed to ask them defining questions. Perhaps out of courtesy, perhaps shyness. And then they passed. Buzz was colorful enough, certainly by rep, it would be interesting to hear other perspectives.

Buzz always owned a cherry, stock Knucklehead, but pretty much drove it nice days on weekends. Not a "biker" per se as far as the lifestyle.

Someone told me once that when he was looking at you, doing that whistle he did, he was figuring out how much money you had in your pocket and how to extract it. My experience was a lot friendlier than that, he was often interested in what i was doing work-wise. Though I would hasten to add i doubt he remembers me. I've been out of the area since '93. Had the impression that he had stopped shooting pool by the late 80's, but you never know.

When i first saw him play, my thought was "that farmer is the famous Buzz Wagaman?" But as with so many people in life, you come to appreciate them on their own terms, and especially appreciate that they are no airs or pretenses, the genuine article, completely comfortable with themselves.

When he played challengers on a bar box, the balls would rattle in the pockets and finally drop almost as an afterthought. Maybe go what looked like twice around the table and then 'slop" in a pocket. Some tied up cueball no hope shot would accidentally find a kick carom. It seldom looked elegant. Somehow it seemed out of ten racks, for him, the 9 would magically drop on the break at least 3 times.
Sometimes 3 racks in a row.

There were people who said he wasn't that good, "never made difficult shots" - when Buzz was shooting he always lucked out that the clusters fell apart & the balls lined up like ducks in a row. Watching the one-pocket sessions clarified that for me after i started to understand the game.

smt