In his era doesn't tell us how good it was by modern standards, though...
The soft break is not always the best in 9-ball and in 8-ball, those sissy breakers are headed for disaster...
I'd say that Wade Crane broke as hard as just about anyone in the early 1980s. Maybe 1982 US Open 9-ball champion David Howard broke harder than Wade Crane, but if so, not by much. I seem to remember that David was the first ever to hit 30 miles per hour on the radar gun with his 9ball break.
Unless you can go back in time, you don't know. But, when Irving Crane says Lassiter had a very good break, I take that as the truth. Crane said it when they met at Atlantic City to play nine ball, seven ball, and eight ball.
Bustamente's hardest break was 34 mph, Howard's was 31 mph when the got clocked in the early 90'ies.Unless you can go back in time, you don't know. But, when Irving Crane says Lassiter had a very good break, I take that as the truth. Crane said it when they met at Atlantic City to play nine ball, seven ball, and eight ball
Oh, I think it's near certain that Wade Crane and David Howard both broke the balls better than Lassiter, but Lassiter had a good one, too. I remember Bustie's 34 mph but both Jeff DeLuna and Mike Dechaine have been clocked at 38 mph, and CJ Wiley has posted about having seen Dechaine's effort live.
Grey Stevens, Richie Florence, Ed Kelly, Bernie Schwartz and Johnny Ervolino were all stone cold killers. Kelly played all games at the highest level. He was long considered the best All Around player alive. Searcy challenged the world and they didn't have to like it. He cleaned house playing Payball with all the world champions. Schwartz at one time was considered one of the two or three best 9-Ballers alive. Ervolino would play anybody and they could bet what they wanted. He was a much feared money player at One Pocket and 14.1. He went to Toledo and beat Teddie Elias on his home table for $7,000 in one game to 200. 1960's money!! Marcel Camp was a mentor and tutor to all the top One Pocket players of his era. Many times good 9-Ball players would match up at One Pocket and one stipulation was Marcel could coach them. Sammy Blumenthal was the best American snooker player for a long time, but Chenier came down from Canada and beat him in Jacksonville. Richie Florence was long considered the best 9-Ball player on the West Coast, even over Keith and Cole. Greg Stevens spotted everybody at LeCue in Houston. The seven or eight ball meant nothing to him.
. George Rood traveled with Lassiter and Don Willis at different times. He was considered their equal and had beaten (and lost to) both of them before partnering up. No one ever came through Dayton and beat the retired road man George Rood! He beat all comers until the road men avoided him like the plague. Willis was simply the best hustler of his era, pre Jack Cooney. He played all games including horseshoes and ping pong. And he beat the world champs at those games. He beat good ping pong players using a coke bottle! No one really knows how good he was at pool (maybe Lassiter and Rood did) because he hid his speed so well. He loved to play in ring games where the money balls (5 & 9) spotted up if made out of turn. His specialty was making the money balls on combinations and billiards, and he made it look like he was just getting lucky. I watched him do it a couple of times and was amazed by the shots he could pull off. It had to be luck but it wasn't! Willis was also a great sports handicapper and he spent much of his senior years in Vegas beating the books. He would study the small colleges and get an edge, but that's another story. He once told me that baseball and (small) college football were the easiest ones for him to beat.
The hardest breaks were probably Wade Crane, David Howard, Danny Medina, Tony Ellin and George Breedlove. I actually think George, who was not that big a guy, could hit them harder than anyone else, before he dislocated his shoulder. It hurt my ears if I was too close when he broke! No one else could do that.
They lived in two different pool worlds. Toby was careful not to give away his speed, even though he often played very good players. Wade was high profile on the East Coast and if Toby beat him (or even came close) he wouldn't ever get a game without giving up a spot. Wade wanted to play the best players and beat them, and he did! He was number one on the East Coast when Richie ruled out West. I guess Greg Stevens and Norman Hitchcock (almost forgot about him) were the two best 9-Ballers in the middle of the country until Buddy came along.
Did you read the post? CJ Wiley was there when Mike Dechaine hit 38 mph on the radar gun and has mentioned it. That's a first-hand, credible witness. I was present for a 37 mph by Dechaine at Super Billiards Expo, although it came in an exhibition and not in a tournament. Having watched all of them live countless times, I can tell you that Dechaine and DeLuna both broke harder than Bustamante.
I didn't get to see Toby Sweet play until 1995, when he was a little past his prime, but he certainly wowed me with a very convincing win over Rempe,
Why is it banned in 9 ball? Scared of a little soft break???