Not only did I almost get my thumbs broke, I almost got every bone in my body broke. A friend and I walked into the Parkview Bar in Rockville Center, Long Island during a blizzard. When I walked in, before I could get my butt on a bar stool this guy "Punch Drunk Charlie" asked me to play some $10 a game 8-ball. Seeing that the place was dead and probably my only chance for a score that night I said sure. Charlie was a heavyweight boxer turned sparring partner. He spared with Floyd Paterson every once in a while still. Charlie was a nice guy when sober, but when drinking he could be an animal. He hurt a lot of people in bars.
Anyway to make a long story short I break and run the first game and am waiting for the ten spot and the qurater for the next game. He looked at me and said, "I quit", and walked back to the bar. I follow him back to the bar with the house cue in hand. My frind Kenny hit him on the side of the head with a bottle of beer. It just bounced off his head like he didn't even feel it.
I swung the house cue like I was going for the fences with a bat. One thing I forgot was in NY at that time all house cues in bars were break a ways. It just shattered in tiny pieces all over the bar, doing nothing to him. By the look in his eyes I could see he was going to kill us if he got a hold of us. As quickly as we could Kenny and I made it out the front door with Charlie in hot pursuit. We were running in the middle of the main road in front of the place (Sunrise Hwy) slipping and sliding in the snow with our dress shoes on. A few times he almost held on to Kenny. We went all the way around the block and jumped into Ken's car. Even though the car started after only a few spins it like 20 spins. Johnnyt