Mickey Holiday

jay helfert · Sep 3, 2020

I received a wonderful e-mail from this gentleman a few days ago. He described to me his career in billiards and the many tournaments and players he competed against. He grew up in the Benton Harbor and Grand Rapids area of Michigan and knew (and played against) all the players from Harold Worst to Bob Hunter to Mark Beilfuss to Jimmy Mataya, scoring some victories as well as incurring some losses. He would be in his 80's now.

I'm just wondering who on here knows this man. I'm sure our paths may have crossed but I can't really place him. He played many of the same guys I competed against around Ohio.

I would like to post his letter on here. It's full of great information, including the final standings of the World Straight Pool Championship held in New York in 1966. It was a fifteen man Round Robin event. So far I have not been able to post his letter to me here. If someone knows how to do that, please let me know and I will forward it to you. Thanks

measureman · Sep 3, 2020

He hung around Park Billiards in Neptune N.J. in the early 60's.
That was my room as a kid but I dont remember much about him.

Chili Palmer · Sep 3, 2020

jay helfert said:
I received a wonderful e-mail from this gentleman a few days ago. He described to me his career in billiards and the many tournaments and players he competed against. He grew up in the Benton Harbor and Grand Rapids area of Michigan and knew (and played against) all the players from Harold Worst to Bob Hunter to Mark Beilfuss to Jimmy Mataya, scoring some victories as well as incurring some losses. He would be in his 80's now.

I'm just wondering who on here knows this man. I'm sure our paths may have crossed but I can't really place him. He played many of the same guys I competed against around Ohio.

I would like to post his letter on here. It's full of great information, including the final standings of the World Straight Pool Championship held in New York in 1966. It was a fifteen man Round Robin event. So far I have not been able to post his letter to me here. If someone knows how to do that, please let me know and I will forward it to you. Thanks

PM coming your way...

thebark · Sep 4, 2020

Jay, I read an article in a magazine from the 60's about Harold Worst. In the article it said that the only guy Harold was afraid of was a billiard player from Michigan named Jack Foreaker. I've asked tons of oldtimers about him but nobody has ever heard of him. Can you ask this guy if he ever heard of Jack?

jay helfert · Sep 4, 2020

thebark said:
Jay, I read an article in a magazine from the 60's about Harold Worst. In the article it said that the only guy Harold was afraid of was a billiard player from Michigan named Jack Foreaker. I've asked tons of oldtimers about him but nobody has ever heard of him. Can you ask this guy if he ever heard of Jack?

I've not only heard of him, but I saw him play in Detroit in 1963. He had a reputation as a formidable hustler. They just called him Foreaker. I will ask Mickey about him. I'm sure he knows of him.

alphadog · Sep 4, 2020

Is this Mickey related to the Holliday he wrote a book about High Runs in 14.1 ?

measureman · Sep 4, 2020

jay helfert said:
I've not only heard of him, but I saw him play in Detroit in 1963. He had a reputation as a formidable hustler. They just called him Foreaker. I will ask Mickey about him. I'm sure he knows of him.

Ask Mickey about Ernie Lager ,Fast Eddie and One Poke from Neptune N.J..
Thanks,

Chili Palmer · Sep 5, 2020

Here you go Jay, sorry it took so long, I don't generally get on the computer on weekends

Chili Palmer · Sep 5, 2020

Edited to put images in individual posts so it's easier to read.

Chili Palmer · Sep 5, 2020

Post #3....

Chili Palmer · Sep 5, 2020

Last one

Chili Palmer · Sep 5, 2020

Man, what a great read. I'll have to show this to a buddy of mine who grew up in Detroit and played with some well known players.

bbb · Sep 5, 2020

thats a great read and life
thanks jay and chili palmer

pt109 · Sep 5, 2020

thebark said:
Jay, I read an article in a magazine from the 60's about Harold Worst. In the article it said that the only guy Harold was afraid of was a billiard player from Michigan named Jack Foreaker. I've asked tons of oldtimers about him but nobody has ever heard of him. Can you ask this guy if he ever heard of Jack?

I used to have lunch sometimes with Baby Face and Jack Foraker...and a couple times
Jimmy Moore was in our group.
It was said that Foraker was Willie Hoppe’s speed....but chose the action route.

He showed some guys a carom situation...cue ball center table, red ball in the corner, other
ball in the kitty corner...showed three ways of making the carom..but wanted $100 for the
4th way. A few years later, Larry Johnson showed me the best way..rail first, twice around
the table. But that was on a heated slate, I don’t know if I could do it on the conditions
Forakers played under...he was a big powerful man.

Forakers told me about the time he took Jimmy Moore to Pontiac for bar action..the guy
would only play for $2...Jimmy played anyway...the guy had a bumpy old stroke, and ran
22 racks on him...Jimmy couldn’t stop laughing, when he broke dry on the 23rd break,
Jimmy put away his cue. When he’s telling me this, he was laughing again. Foraker asked
“What are you laughing about? It cost us $44.”

jay helfert · Sep 6, 2020

Chili Palmer said:
Man, what a great read. I'll have to show this to a buddy of mine who grew up in Detroit and played with some well known players.

Thanks so much for posting this. I thought it was a great letter worth sharing on here. There were guys like Mickey in every corner of the country back then, good "shortstops" who were capable of giving anyone a tough time on the table. These were guys I played and learned from.

jay helfert · Sep 6, 2020

pt109 said:
I used to have lunch sometimes with Baby Face and Jack Foraker...and a couple times
Jimmy Moore was in our group.
It was said that Foraker was Willie Hoppe’s speed....but chose the action route.

He showed some guys a carom situation...cue ball center table, red ball in the corner, other
ball in the kitty corner...showed three ways of making the carom..but wanted $100 for the
4th way. A few years later, Larry Johnson showed me the best way..rail first, twice around
the table. But that was on a heated slate, I don’t know if I could do it on the conditions
Forakers played under...he was a big powerful man.

Forakers told me about the time he took Jimmy Moore to Pontiac for bar action..the guy
would only play for $2...Jimmy played anyway...the guy had a bumpy old stroke, and ran
22 racks on him...Jimmy couldn’t stop laughing, when he broke dry on the 23rd break,
Jimmy put away his cue. When he’s telling me this, he was laughing again. Foraker asked
“What are you laughing about? It cost us $44.”

When I first saw him at the Detroit Fairgrounds in 1963, he was just another tall older man who looked kind of ornery to me. I was told about his reputation as a high speed player who was a bit unsavory, so I was very curious about him. He played a One Pocket money game with someone while i was there and I sweated his play. He was giving weight and winning game after game, maybe twenty bucks a game which was good money back then. As for "Babyface" Alton Whitlow, he was a very well known player in that era. He was considered one of the top players in the Midwest and right there with all the best players in the country.

Black-Balled · Sep 6, 2020

Great read, all.

rikdee · Sep 6, 2020

Chili Palmer said:
Post #3....

This is an interesting list of players. I remember most of them and a few I knew. Sunday mornings in the mid seventies, at the Cushion and Cue in Livonia, a number of good players would show up to play mostly 14.1. It was there I met and played Gordon Hamilton a number of times. He was from Canada and was then living in Ann Arbor. Nice guy and a strong player. The room was run by a real friendly and cool guy named Big Bill Patee. I was there alot and got to know Bill; someone I'll always remember. I also recall playing with a fellow named Wayne. Not knowing his last name, it could very well have been the mentioned Wayne Fate. Good memories always, thanks for posting.

book collector · Sep 6, 2020

I can remember Mark Beilfuss, when he was really young beating a lot of really tough players , then one day it was like he dropped off the planet. Did he just quit playing?

rikdee · Sep 6, 2020

book collector said:
I can remember Mark Beilfuss, when he was really young beating a lot of really tough players , then one day it was like he dropped off the planet. Did he just quit playing?

That is what I always heard, just burned out playing. I knew him enough to exchange greetings and watched him play many times at the Velvet Rail. At sixteen years old, his skill level at 14.1 was nothing short of amazing. Rained 100 ball runs making it look easy as if anyone could do it. Wow, what a player.

Mickey Holiday

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