So, I’m on Max Eberle’s email list, and I recently received from him a video of an interview of “Cowboy” Jimmy Moore. I also just saw that someone started a thread about this video, in the Main Forum.
Moore describes going on the road with Lassiter and Don Willis, to West Virginia, where they ran into a player named Bud Hypes. Moore says that Lassiter and Willis told him to “shoot from the go because the man can play.” After describing the back and forth of their play, and his respect for Hypes, he goes on to describe a later encounter with Hypes in Kinston, NC, where Hypes challenged Mosconi, Lassiter and Crane in 9 ball money matches. Moore says that Mosconi would only play for higher stakes than proposed by Hypes, but adds that the other two took him up. Their matches ended at 30 games apiece and 31 games apiece. “The man could play,” says Moore.
So I read up a bit on Hypes, and learned that, like Mosconi, he was paid by Brunswick to travel and give exhibitions. His obituary reads:
“Bud, also known as the “Tiger”, was a world champion nine ball player, winning his first pool tournament at age sixteen. He went all over the country as a representative for Brunswick. During his travels, he played Minnesota Fats and won every game. At one time Bud made 465 straight balls when he was interrupted. When word spread through town that Bud was shooting pool, people would flock to the pool hall from near and far. Bud was great at mathematics and he used geometry to help him with his game. He enjoyed giving exhibitions at the Veteran’s Hospitals and local schools. In addition to his love of pool, Bud enjoyed fishing, hunting, bowling, and visiting with his many friends.
Bud was in the Marine Corps from 1942-1946 where he served his country proudly during World War II. He was wounded on Okinawa on April 1, 1945, the only time he was ever in the hospital until his death in 2010. Bud loved Mullens where he spent his entire life, except for his time in the service. He owned and operated the Sportsman Pool Room and Bud and Henry’s Grill, a favorite gathering place for many years. Bud never turned away a customer, even if they had no money.”
George Rood, after regaling an interviewer with stories of beating all the greats, says this about Hypes:
GR: “So that was the week we went over to play this guy in West Virginia, Bud Hypes, who could really play. It took me a long time to get to the point where I could play again, you know. Took me almost two days. In fact Tom and Charlie were both in with me, but when Hypes won 15 games in a row Tom threw up his hands and he said, ‘I'm out.’ He said, ‘Money's not good to be split three ways, I quit.’ And Charlie said, ‘I'm still in; bet more money.’ So anyhow, in the end we cut Tom back in; we gave him back some of his money. It was a tough, tough game. But that was interesting; I got a new Buick out of it.
1P: Wow, that's great.
GR: That was quite a session, I'll tell you. He was a fine player.”
So, the first part of this long post is really just an observation that there sure were some obscure greats back in the day. (Rood, who played in the era of legends, calls a player named Rags Fitzpatrick “the best all around player I’ve ever known.”)
The second part of this post, and the reason for posting in this thread, is that Rood, during his interview, had the following to say about the Mosconi record run, and the table:
1P: When you said Springfield, Ohio, I thought that sounded familiar. So that was where he ran 526?
GR: That's right. That was in the room that I owned, but I didn't own it then; I bought it later. It was the same room where we had played our exhibition, but it was after that, at another exhibition, when he ran all those balls.
1P: Was that same table where he had that run still there when you bought the room?
GR: Yes it was.
1P: I'm told that was a four by eight table?
GR: You're right. Now, we had played on a four and a half by nine, but it was a four by eight that he played on, with another fellow, on the night he had that high run.
1P: George, do you remember how tight the pockets were on that table?
GR: They were large.
1P: That must have helped out a little bit.
GR: But never-the-less, it's more balls than anyone else ever got.
1P: Oh yeah, it’s still amazing, even if it wasn’t the most challenging equipment. Were you there when he did it?
GR: No. I was not there, but I have read the affidavit that everybody signed that night.
Here’s the link to the printed interview of Rood: https://www.onepocket.org/GeorgeRoodInterview.htm
Here’s the link to the YouTube interview of Moore: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=58ej-2ijl9w
