Everything posted here so far is true. I became friends with Babe when I was in grad school, and I wrote about him in a piece I wrote for Esquire in 1998. Babe was one of the greatest straight pool players ever--200-ball runs were nothing for him. I think the only thing I might add is that Babe was NOT great in competition. This might sound odd, since he beat Lassiter in a challenge match for the title in '64, but Babe was incredibly nervous in competition--sometimes he'd have more than one cigarette lit, and he was always a bundle of nerves. He actually had Lassiter beat in the tournament in '63 (I think it was) and blew it on cinch shot. Babe told me he was literally sick after that, and walked around NYC that night for hours. Babe is also the person who first told me about Ralph Greenleaf, who Babe toured with; I'm at work now on a novel based on Greenleaf's life, and one of the characters is at least in part based on Babe Cranfield.