Buddy Hall.....74 years of age today May 29
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Yes, in my books, Buddy Hall was the best nine ball pattern player of all time.
I have seen just two players since that were even mentionable in the same breath as nine ball pattern players and they'd be Ralf Souquet and Wu Jiaqing, but neither is Buddy's equal.
Buddy is remembered as an all-time great as he should be, but needs to be remembered for even more. He is, to me, "the father of nine ball position play."
Happy birthday to a true legend.
I have seen just two players since that were even mentionable in the same breath as nine ball pattern players and they'd be Ralf Souquet and Wu Jiaqing, but neither is Buddy's equal.
Buddy is remembered as an all-time great as he should be, but needs to be remembered for even more. He is, to me, "the father of nine ball position play."
Happy birthday to a true legend.
Happy Birthday Rifleman.
Thanks for all that great pool.
Thanks for all that great pool.
Couldn't agree more, Stu about Buddy being the father. But I would say Earl as "same breath". And really? For me? *Only* Earl... of course, meaning Earl at 18 to 28 or so...
Happy birthday, Buddy! Thanks for 50 years of phenomenal memories, ESPECIALLY those hundreds ( at least ) of hours watching you get after it live and in person!!!
Gotta say this, too... Not that it would've taken anything much more than waking up in the morning to get me over to Baker's in Tampa back in the mid to late 70s but just knowing Buddy was there practically every day ( and always with T.R. who I loved talking to and listening to ) made me want to be over there just that much more. And I learned more just watching Buddy play so much back then than I ever learned from anyone, ever. The next closest would've been growing up ( literally, from age 12 to 17 or so ) watching Randy Brown every day in the room I came up in ( Family Billiards ). Watching Buddy was ( and still is, only now it's on You Tube ) **mesmerizing** to me. SO MANY TIMES< watching him and I would find myself nodding to myself and saying, "Yeah... I get it now." Man. I know Efren's always been known as the Magician but for me, NO ONE was more pure MAGIC than Buddy as he went about his business. SO many times, I would see him do things and just shake my head and say, WTF???
Yeah... Always been Mr. Hall in my book. No dis meant to anyone else in any way.
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Happy birthday to the Rifleman, to me the greatest 9 ball player who ever lived.
There are too many of his career highlights to list, but my personal favorite was the time in Dayton in 1974, during the runup to Joe Burns' tournament (which Buddy won), when he and Mike Siegel were each running one rack after the other, neither of them missing a ball.
The punch line is that Buddy was playing lefthanded while Siegel was playing righthanded. There was no way on Earth that someone who didn't know they were playing with the "wrong" hand ever would have known the difference.
There are too many of his career highlights to list, but my personal favorite was the time in Dayton in 1974, during the runup to Joe Burns' tournament (which Buddy won), when he and Mike Siegel were each running one rack after the other, neither of them missing a ball.
The punch line is that Buddy was playing lefthanded while Siegel was playing righthanded. There was no way on Earth that someone who didn't know they were playing with the "wrong" hand ever would have known the difference.
Yeah, amazing, wasn't it? It's funny you mention Sigel in this. The first time I ever saw him was ( and I know I mention this tourn all the time. Even though it may seem that way, I promise you it *wasn't* the only tourn I ever went to. FAR from it! :grin: ) at the Citrus Open at Baker's @ 74 and he was practicing alone, right handed. So I'm watching him cause I liked the way he played ( had NO idea who he was ) and he never misses a ball. Perfect stroke, perfect speed, every ball dead-center pocket. So I see him later that day, in a match, and he's playing lefty. And I'm like, huh??? I felt like Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein when he asks Igor "Say, wasn't your hump on the other side yesterday?" ( and Igor says, "What hump...?" :grin: ). So I ask someone, is he a lefty? I saw him earlier today and he was playing righty! And they looked at me and smiled and said, "Yeah... he's a lefty. But don't play him either way."
Great memories.
As a pattern player? No way does Earl merit a mention. Yes, Earl was a better overall player than Buddy, but his break, his shot-making skills and his powerful stroke were the difference. His pattern play was good in terms of cinching the right side of the next ball, but his angle management wasn't as good as the most elite which is why he often wasn't as close to the object ball as the others. It is in this respect that Buddy outshone them all.
I don't normally disagree with you Stu, let alone multiple times in one post but, hey... always a first time. As in now... I have to disagree that Earl was/is a better over-all player. I think Buddy is the better player. And I am ( as you know ) a HUGE Earl fan. And I'm well aware of his play in all games. Still, to me, Buddy ranks ahead. Not by much, probably. But Buddy is #1 with Earl #1B. And, as far as pattern-play goes, I disagree once again. I think Earl played ( 18 to 28 ) patterns in 9ball better than anyone EXCEPT Buddy. And of course, it's really a matter of opinion. One person's def of pattern play might be dif than someone else's.
Happy birthday, Buddy
Maybe the finest strokes that ever moved a cue
On the Earl/Buddy comparison
Earl’s accuracy and power got him out of a lot of trouble
...a ten year old could’ve made the ball off Buddy’s position
For me, Earl was always showing how great he was
Buddy was always showing how great the game is...like Steve Davis
Maybe the finest strokes that ever moved a cue
On the Earl/Buddy comparison
Earl’s accuracy and power got him out of a lot of trouble
...a ten year old could’ve made the ball off Buddy’s position
For me, Earl was always showing how great he was
Buddy was always showing how great the game is...like Steve Davis
Have to agree with you there, PT. Even though when I first met Earl in 83 and spent some time with him, he was as humble as the day was long. That changed over the years. Buddy never changed. ALWAYS humble. HYPER-aware of how well he played, no doubt about it. But humble as pie...
Hear, hear!! Happy birthday Buddy Hall!!
Happy B-Day Buddy .PT you said it correctly it was position play ,no one put whitey on a string better than Buddy.Saw Buddy shoot 1000 on accustat against Allen Hopkins 9-1 Allen ran the first game and got one more shot(a saftey ) hooked miss .Vapor Buddy was gone.He won that tourn. O yea Earl was in that one.
I have to disagree that Earl was/is a better over-all player. I think Buddy is the better player. And I am ( as you know ) a HUGE Earl fan. And I'm well aware of his play in all games. Still, to me, Buddy ranks ahead. Not by much, probably. But Buddy is #1 with Earl #1B. And, as far as pattern-play goes, I disagree once again. I think Earl played ( 18 to 28 ) patterns in 9ball better than anyone EXCEPT Buddy. And of course, it's really a matter of opinion. One person's def of pattern play might be dif than someone else's.
Another guy who played the patterns better than Earl was Jim Rempe.
You may be right, though, it may be terminology. Position play and pattern play are not the same thing. Pattern play refers to a player's use of precise angle management to maximize the length of the position zone, and it is in this respect that Buddy is without equal in our game's history. Even Rempe was a bit less refined in this respect, and neither Wu nor Souquet has quite reached Buddy's level, either.
Earl was, indeed, a super-elite position player. I'm guessing this is just terminology, as we both know what we've seen over the years.
Now I'm jealous! Jimmy was probably the standard bearer for great pattern play until Buddy came along and yes, watching Rempe was always a treat.
Happy Birthday to my life long friend and buddy, Cecil Hall. "Buddy" was more than a great pool player. He was and is a good man, a loyal friend, kind hearted, honorable, a great story teller with good wit and highly intelligent. Plus he was a brave man, unafraid of a challenge and always calm even in difficult situations. He feared no man on or off the pool table.
All these qualities help define his greatness as a pool player. He worked hard at his chosen trade and dedicated himself to being the best he could be. His mental toughness was also unmatched in the pool world. There is a good reason he was the most respected and feared money player for over three decades. And you can include every pool player on Earth and line them all up behind him! Until Parica came along Buddy was The Man! Simply put, Buddy had more"heart" per square inch than all the rest of us put together. No one could come with a bigger shot under pressure than him. The first I've seen since that has that unique quality is Dennis O.
Buddy traveled more and won more than anyone before or since, excelling on any size table, playing any game under any conditions. And he NEVER complained about the cloth, the rails, the balls, the anything! He'd look you in the eye and chuckle that little way he did and say, "they've still got to put those balls in the hole before you do" and that was the end of that conversation.
That's the man that I love to this day. The real Buddy Hall, and not just some guy who played good pool.
All these qualities help define his greatness as a pool player. He worked hard at his chosen trade and dedicated himself to being the best he could be. His mental toughness was also unmatched in the pool world. There is a good reason he was the most respected and feared money player for over three decades. And you can include every pool player on Earth and line them all up behind him! Until Parica came along Buddy was The Man! Simply put, Buddy had more"heart" per square inch than all the rest of us put together. No one could come with a bigger shot under pressure than him. The first I've seen since that has that unique quality is Dennis O.
Buddy traveled more and won more than anyone before or since, excelling on any size table, playing any game under any conditions. And he NEVER complained about the cloth, the rails, the balls, the anything! He'd look you in the eye and chuckle that little way he did and say, "they've still got to put those balls in the hole before you do" and that was the end of that conversation.
That's the man that I love to this day. The real Buddy Hall, and not just some guy who played good pool.
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Happy boithday to the rifleman. Always love sitting back and watching him on YouTube.
Quick, if you were to do another legends of pocket billiards event, which players get the invite?
Quick, if you were to do another legends of pocket billiards event, which players get the invite?
Efren Reyes, Buddy Hall, Earl Strickland, Mike Sigel, Nick Varner, Jim Rempe