Gump was my friend. A helluva guy, always had a big smile on his face. I miss you man.
Best Players In Baltimore
- Thread starter Table Top Joe
- Start date
Ed Kelly was from Baltimore and nobody mentioned him. Only one of the best all time! Nobody mentioned here could have beaten him, and only Keith could have hung with him at 9-Ball. Kelly played all games great! The best All Around player in the world for many years. Ask Tom Vanover about him.
i watched a match between past-prime sigel and a guy named josh brothers. tattooed guy, played real good and won the tournament. did he quit?
Been years since I've seen him, last time we talked he said he has joined the rest of us in jobland.
8intheside
Well-known member
Carl jones. Is that “punky”? very strong player. One of the best I’ve seen.
Here's a cute story about Punky Jones.
Geese (Mike Gerace) snuck in on Punky in Hagerstown a few times back in the early '80s. He was a well-known action player who would engage in games of stake. Punky also traveled down to Rockville, Baltimore, Laurel, and other Maryland hotspots for action. He could play on the big table and the bar box, and as most old-school players, Punky could play all games. He wasn't a one-trick pony like some of today's players.
I saw him about 10 years ago at a local regional tournament, and he's still got game, though it's not his main income anymore.
Keith McCready did a charity event in Pennsylvania at an Elks or Moose Club (can't remember) one time, and the place was really cool with lots of pool peeps. They had auctions for money that was donated to a medical charity for a heart revival machine for sports people.
Anyway, Keith and I were sitting at the bar, and this gentleman initiates a conversation with Keith, stating that he wouldn't mind playing him some with a spot. I looked at the guy long and hard and realized it was none other than Punky, who truly did not need as big a spot as he was asking for. Meanwhile, Punky knew *exactly* who Keith was, but what Punky didn't realize was that I knew who he was from him playing Geese. The game never happened, thanks to me. I told Keith it's always good to travel with a native when action presents itself.
I always liked Punky. He was a gentleman gambler. Here's a photo from a Planet Pool tournament in Hagerstown of Punky and Keith.
Geese (Mike Gerace) snuck in on Punky in Hagerstown a few times back in the early '80s. He was a well-known action player who would engage in games of stake. Punky also traveled down to Rockville, Baltimore, Laurel, and other Maryland hotspots for action. He could play on the big table and the bar box, and as most old-school players, Punky could play all games. He wasn't a one-trick pony like some of today's players.
I saw him about 10 years ago at a local regional tournament, and he's still got game, though it's not his main income anymore.
Keith McCready did a charity event in Pennsylvania at an Elks or Moose Club (can't remember) one time, and the place was really cool with lots of pool peeps. They had auctions for money that was donated to a medical charity for a heart revival machine for sports people.
Anyway, Keith and I were sitting at the bar, and this gentleman initiates a conversation with Keith, stating that he wouldn't mind playing him some with a spot. I looked at the guy long and hard and realized it was none other than Punky, who truly did not need as big a spot as he was asking for. Meanwhile, Punky knew *exactly* who Keith was, but what Punky didn't realize was that I knew who he was from him playing Geese. The game never happened, thanks to me. I told Keith it's always good to travel with a native when action presents itself.
I always liked Punky. He was a gentleman gambler. Here's a photo from a Planet Pool tournament in Hagerstown of Punky and Keith.
Another Baltimore regular on the pool scene was Fat Wayne. Sadly, he passed away a few weeks ago, but he was one of Maryland's unsung heroes in our pool world. In the '80s, pool action was rampant in Maryland, ring games in bars up and down Route 1. But the real gambling would happen at Bill and Billie's in Glen Burnie, after hours when the bars closed. This was the action hub at that time, open 24/7, and it is where I first met Fat Wayne.
We were both pool aficionados and spent many an all-nighter sweating action matches on the rail, but make no mistake about it, unbeknownst to some, Fat Wayne could play and enjoyed flying under the radar. Whenever I went to Baltimore and saw Fat Wayne in the house, we'd lock eyeballs and immediately smile because we knew it was going to be a fun evening full of pool and the hours would zip by like minutes. Sometimes we'd side-bet, pooling our funds together. We'd laugh and chuckle the night away, sharing pool tales, smut, and best-kept secrets about where to get action.
Here's Fat Wayne Warehime and Cigar Tom Vanover (Bob Vanover's brother) who is also a Baltimore pool geat. Photo taken in 2002 at Hot Shots on Pulaski Highway.
We were both pool aficionados and spent many an all-nighter sweating action matches on the rail, but make no mistake about it, unbeknownst to some, Fat Wayne could play and enjoyed flying under the radar. Whenever I went to Baltimore and saw Fat Wayne in the house, we'd lock eyeballs and immediately smile because we knew it was going to be a fun evening full of pool and the hours would zip by like minutes. Sometimes we'd side-bet, pooling our funds together. We'd laugh and chuckle the night away, sharing pool tales, smut, and best-kept secrets about where to get action.
Here's Fat Wayne Warehime and Cigar Tom Vanover (Bob Vanover's brother) who is also a Baltimore pool geat. Photo taken in 2002 at Hot Shots on Pulaski Highway.
8intheside
Well-known member
I have a story about Punky jones. There use to be a bar called “the sunset tavern” in Hagerstown, this was in 1995 or 96, they held weekly 8-ball tournaments and you could qualify for the big tournament af the end of the 10 weeks if you finished first second or third,. Well I managed to qualify and couldn’t wait to compete for the 1,000 cue and huge trophy for first place. So the big tournament finally came and all you heard was that everyone is playing for second place anyways because punky jones qualified! I had no idea who Punky was and had never seen him shoot! Needless to say Punky won the tournament and watching him play he definitely lived up to all the hype he received!
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He has about a dozen tournaments played in the last year in FargoRate--mostly in Delaware but also MD and PA.
he looked promising ~15 years ago
Solid player for sure.
Jenny, do you remember Geese winning the Maryland straight pool tournament, held in Bill & Billies, their second location, that industrial section of Glen Burnie, something like early 80s?
We'd just suffered through the longest match in history, between Mike Adams and Ed Cecanes (RIP), the owner of Bill & Billies. Ed was a medium speed player, but Mike was the slowest player in history. The match must have taken between two and three hours. Ed barely beats Mike, and Geese is ready to play for the championship. Geese got to running balls, and beat Ed in something like a half hour. Geese slammed his green-butt Muecci cue in his case, and said, so long! Man, could that guy play, and fast. I miss watching Geese.
All the best,
WW
Wasn't "Three Fingered" Ronnie Sypher from back there. He was a damn good pool hustler.
That sounds like Geese. I was not there for that one. It must have been before we started going out together. I think Geese won several Maryland State championships. It used to alternate betwen him and Cigar Tom Vanover.
One year, I entered the ladie's Maryland State tournament, and everybody knew I was the girlfriend of Geese, the Maryland State champ. I was a barbox player, and had little to no experience on the big tables. I remember one match, I had ball in hand on the 8 ball, and I was so nervous that I missed it. I could feel my face get beet red. Everybody was watching Geese's girlfriend, thinking I was good. I think Linda Haywood (Shea) won that year.
Geese also had a temper, a hot Italian temper that used to surface when he lost. He could not stand losing. One year, Geese's mother and I went to watch him compete at a tournament at Greenie's pool room. Geese was playing some guy and losing in the match. When he went to rack the balls, he was so fired up and irate, he took a pool ball and threw it across the room in a rage. Fortunately, it did not hit anybody. Cigar Tom's wife said to me, "If that was Tom, I would have rung his neck." It was a long drive home after that tournament. There were a lot of Maryland greats there, but somehow or another, Geese got a pass for his poor behavior. It's like they all knew Geese's temper, but they also loved the Geese that would gamble high as the Georgia pine and win. That wonderful Geese cackle is so memorable.
It is actually, in a strange way, through Geese that I met Keith McCready. Geese went to California and went on the road with Keith out there, and the first time I met Keith, we were outside smoking a cigarette. Of course, I recognized him as the famous "Keith McCready," and as I am wont to doing when I'm nervous, I dared to speak to him and said, "Do you remember Geese? He used to talk about how much fun he had in California with you." And from there, Keith and I started our relationship. It was at the Capital City Classic tournament in Lanham, MD.
I went on the road a few times with Geese looking for action. I actually got played in some spots by some local shortstop girls. I won a few and lost a few. It was fun. Here's a shot of Geese and me taken at King's Dominion. I wanted to hold the rifle, but Geese said no way.
