Greenleaf biography (revised first edition)

kling&allen · 2023-05-29T22:29:46+00:00

I recently pushed out a revised first edition of my Greenleaf biography (Amazon link.) There's no major substantive changes from the original first edition, but I added a few stories I encountered since the book was first published. The following story about the 1923 Tournament League is my favorite addition as it involves some funny antics between Greenleaf and Taberski. 1923 may have been the high-water mark for public interest in professional pool. --- To capitalize on the continued popularity of both pool and Greenleaf, Brunswick organized a nationwide tournament league in 1923 to determine the world champion. The tournament league was the biggest and best pool event to date—and perhaps ever. The top 16 players would play round-robin games in 16 different cities. But who would the top 16 include? Ralph’s nemesis, the Snail, had not played professionally since he fussily quit in 1919 when the shot clock was introduced. Taberski had not remained silent during his “retirement.” He boasted to the press for months on end that he was the true champion and had never been defeated by Greenleaf. Greenleaf, seeking to end the Snail’s wailing, offered to play Taberski under any terms to settle the matter. Pool’s promoters, including Brunswick and the pool halls that would host the tournament league, spent much of 1923 negotiating with Greenleaf and Taberski to ensure that both would play. The Snail cried about the rules that might apply. Ralph threatened to hold out, and play exhibitions instead, if the tournament purse was not sufficient. Brunswick somehow managed to appease everyone’s ego and the league began in October 1923. The top four finishers in the league would meet in a four-city championship playoff to determine the world champion. Greenleaf began league play with a fury, winning 18 of his first 19 matches. The Snail, to his credit, won 9 of his first 13 matches. But days before he was scheduled to face Greenleaf for the first time since 1918, the Snail became afflicted with mysterious eye troubles (perhaps a cyst) and threatened to quit. Taberski was cured by a “miracle medical treatment” and agreed to finally play Greenleaf on December 10, 1923. Taberski arrived at Philadelphia’s Hudson Billiard Parlor wearing glasses and complaining of blurry vision. Whether the Snail was trying to hustle Ralph, or whether he really had eye surgery to remote a cyst, is not known. Either way Greenleaf showed no mercy and destroyed the Snail in the first three games. The match was a marvel of pool strategy, with the cagey Snail still capable of playing incredible safeties and position. The Snail won the fourth and final game of the set, showing he was still a threat, glasses or not. Greenleaf did not hesitate to seek every advantage throughout the match: Taberski confessed after the match last night that he was at a total loss on long shots as he could barely make out the position of the objective ball in many instances…Greenleaf played it so that Taberski had long shots to try for and in these instances the man from the city of autos [Taberski] was lost. He missed several shots at critical stages of the fray’s progress. The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 12, 1923. Having defeated the Snail in tournament play for the first time, Ralph then outplayed the field for the remainder of the league matches, winning 92 of the 112 league games. The Snail, proving that he deserved his place among the top professionals even after his four-year absence, finished second with 75 wins. The two dueling greats, along with Bennie Allen and Andrew St. Jean, would embark on a four-city playoff tour—Philadelphia, Kansas City, Minneapolis, and Detroit—to determine the world champion. Ralph’s strong play continued through the playoff, winning 8 out of 12 of his games. He won two and lost two against Taberski—including a key game on the final day of the playoff—but it was Bennie Allen who secured second place to face Greenleaf for the championship. For 13 innings in the finale, Allen held his own, only trailing Greenleaf 38 to 42. But as is the fate of many players described in this book, Allen sadly sat in his chair while Greenleaf took the table in the 14th inning and ran 83 and out to secure yet another world championship.