best SAFETY battle in straight pool?

curiousofpool said:
Hello Guys:

I came around this thread in the main forum:

http://forums.azbilliards.com/showthread.php?t=99414

I thought it was quiet entertaining, but the best safety battle? :confused:
I believe 9ball is just not the game for a great safety battle. Straight pool should have some that are much more entertaining and educational.
So what, is the best safety battle you ever saw?

Michael
Click to expand...
Well, I don't remember a lot of the details, but in a match between Luther Lassiter and Dick Lane, Luther took three fouls three different times in the game and still won. He had a run of 103, and must have made at least 210 points in the race to 150 given the 54 points of foul for the 3x3. The game took 3.5 hours. US Open, 1975.

The most desperate use of safety play I've seen was between Eddie Kelly and Danny Gartner. Kelly, who was having divorce problems according to the rumors, had been poured into bed by his friends in the morning hours. He forfeited his morning match with Lassiter, but managed to get dressed for his "B side" match with Gartner later that day. He was not playing well, and had to stall for sobriety. At one point he played the classic "two rails from the kitchen to graze the side of the rack and return to the kitchen" perfectly and Gartner blew up: "Nobody plays that shot!" I thought that was an overstatement since Crane had already played the shot several times in the tournament and it's in Mosconi's book. Eventually -- in 3.5 hours -- Kelly got sober and got out, eliminating Gartner. US Open, 1969. Gartner had earlier had a game with 70+80-and-out.
 
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nice stories

Hello Bob:

Nice stories! I like the idea to think of the whole match as a safety battle and I really can imagine Gartner getting mad. :-) But I was thinking more along the lines of the best safety battle between two shooting innings.
Thanks
Michael

But Guys, keep the stories coming or better search for the internet coverage, so that I don't have to do it myself! ;)
 
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