John Ditoro told me this over the weekend. We were both playing at a Hollywood Billiards weekend tournament and he also told me that Richie Ambrose passed away as well. We were both commenting how people closer and closer to our age are passing away and how scary that was.
John told me that he has the coolest photo of him and Tommy at a Tournament. They got 1st/2nd together and the picture is of those two with Mosconi presenting the awards. Back when we I was just a kid, hanging out at Pegs Pocket in Miami, Tommy and Johnny were the best players in the room. They use to constantly butt heads. My first memory of the pool room is wandering in there in search of high school cheerleaders and instead my eye getting caught by a money game of 14.1 between those two. They were playing a race to 100 for 100, which I thought was big stakes as a high school freshman in the early 80s.
One time we were in the pool room and the the windows had this film on it that you couldnt see through. From the outside you had to look over it and it was fairly high. Johnny was in a game and me and some buddies are sweating it. I look over and I see Tommy's hair peeking above the glass. We go outside and Tommy is out there watching John. My buddy Al says hey Tommy whatcha doing out here? Just seeing if the moment is right he says. We laughed and said well, is the moment right Tommy? He pulled out a wad of money out of his waistband that was all rolled up into a ball and he had a hard time holding it with one hand. Yeah, well this part of the moment is right he says...looking back over the glass at Johnny. I'm thinking about the other part he says...
They both played real close and they were always looking for the right moment to beat each other. Good times, and one my fondest memories of growing up in a good action room. RIP Tommy.
