Why, thank you sir! Except now there's a thread (petition?) asking me to change it back, lol!
You are so funny!
ShortStop Definition
- Thread starter akaTrigger
- Start date
Why, thank you sir! Except now there's a thread (petition?) asking me to change it back, lol!
You are so funny!
I like the one of you in the bikini. Or was that private? :slap:
I keep reading that "short stops" are decent players. How did the term 'shortstop' come about?
Is it suppose to be obvious to me that shortstop means a good player? Or is it a long-time pool term I just hadn't heard a lot of?
Obviously there are shortstops in baseball, so I always wondered if and how they were related to how we use the term in regard to pool players.
Don't shoot the female messenger!
It's a term for a strong local player who plays just under the world class pro level but can sometimes, on a good day beat a top pro. They are often working men who maybe could have been a top pro if they didn't have to work for a living. Very few working men ever make top pro status and the ones who do can't stay there usually. It seems that you have to be willing to sleep in the streets to stay off them when you're a poolplayer.
I maybe wrong on this but the old man who taught me how to play was a road player from the 40s and 50s. The way I understood it, short stops were strong local players. If a road player beat a short stop the town ways dead to him. In other words, if the road player beat the short stop he would have to move onto the next town. So, if the road player beat a top local player, that town would be a short stop for him before he had to move on.
Steven
Steven
Pretty accurate here. I've seen a lot of guys with good jobs, that they would never leave, who play pool to supplement their income. Usually it takes a very strong player to beat guys like this who, more often than not, won't take the game anyway. Too smart!
There's a few like this in every city I've ever been in. They're in it for one thing - the money! They wouldn't have the time or the inclination to post on here. A little too busy doing their thing. :clapping:
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You taken to me?
The guy that busted Grady in Arizona before his 3K match is not a short stop or he would have LOST.
Or that is what Grady would say??????:grin::grin::grin::grin:
The guy that busted Grady in Arizona before his 3K match is not a short stop or he would have LOST.
Or that is what Grady would say??????:grin::grin::grin::grin:
Name some good short stops
Not to change the subject but I think the term short stop has been definded. And not to queer anyone's action. I would like to know some of the best old time short stops. That may give us a clue to how good some short stops are.
I will start a list with a couple of my favorite players that had a full time job but had the ability to beat anyone.
1 - Kenny McCoy, Columbus Ohio
2 - Clyde Childress, Berea KY
Not to change the subject but I think the term short stop has been definded. And not to queer anyone's action. I would like to know some of the best old time short stops. That may give us a clue to how good some short stops are.
I will start a list with a couple of my favorite players that had a full time job but had the ability to beat anyone.
1 - Kenny McCoy, Columbus Ohio
2 - Clyde Childress, Berea KY
\
Judex James, George Pawelski and Mike Bandy. John Abruzzo, John Henderson and Frank Almanza are a couple more I can think of. Billy Kenyon was a real good player who always worked in the movie business as a stuntman. Dino Gounaris was a jeweler in Dayton who played strong as well. Just a few off the top of my head.
Just when I had finally begun to understand the numerous sexual innuendos associated with pool/billiards I am now expected to comprehend the homonyms of baseball origin......next shall come the polysemous homonyms as applied to all sports......and I will be forced to consult the redneck dictonary even more frequently.......dammit
Aka,
Many, many years ago Larry Hubbart defined me as a "short stop:embarrassed2:". As he explained it to me probably thirty years ago, it's a player, not necessarily local, who wins the money on a "short stop" till the really top players showed up and relieved him of it. Therefore a "short stop".
Lyn
Many, many years ago Larry Hubbart defined me as a "short stop:embarrassed2:". As he explained it to me probably thirty years ago, it's a player, not necessarily local, who wins the money on a "short stop" till the really top players showed up and relieved him of it. Therefore a "short stop".
Lyn
Jay, you are getting confused. It was you in the bikini, not me.
I hope he wasn't TOPLESS.
Short Stop
Road players going from town to another would make short stops in every small town to make expence money , they would play the best player then move on , later the term became how well some one could play .
Hope this helps . and I am not going to tell you how old I am !
Road players going from town to another would make short stops in every small town to make expence money , they would play the best player then move on , later the term became how well some one could play .
Hope this helps . and I am not going to tell you how old I am !
Jay, you are getting confused. It was you in the bikini, not me.
Yeah, but it was your bikini! :grin-loving:
UGH
Good Lord strike me blind before someone posts a picture of Jay in bikini....
Ken
On the road I used to go to a town and get a line on the top 5 players. I would usually befriend a young player that knew everyone. They would tell you everything.
If I found a cheap or free place to play I would take my time. I would get the pecking order and know who liked to bet the most and went from there.
Every once in a while there would be a guy in the town that would bet alot on some of his favorites so it might be to your advantage back then to lay down a little. The longer you were there the more realistic it looked. You could become one of the boys in a real quick hurry.
People gave the name of short stop to most of these top 5 players but it should have been reserved for the top few that would bet some money and were capable of getting the cash sometimes against some of the best players around. . It was for the few that could just almost get there against most top players.
A true shortstop is a dangerous person right on the edge of playing some really great pool.
I busted Jimmy Gracek from Michigan in about 95 or 96. He had just won about 3 or 4 big tournaments. After he left we saw his picture on the front of one of the magazines.
One of the 2 guys that backed him said his buddy told him there was this shortstop in Wisconsin that would bet it up and had a nightclub named Geno's saloon.
I played $200 sets for the first 2 days. I hadn't played for about a week. Needed to get in stroke a little. They were OK with that because they were getting $500 to $1000 bet on the side with my customers.
The 3rd day my customers quit betting. i was stuck about $800 myself. They wanted me to bet more now and I felt pretty good so we started betting $1000 and eventually $1500 a set if i remember right.
They ran out of money. I'll never forget what the one backer said.
Shortstop Huh. I wish it was a shorter stop.
I not sure but the term shortstop I think was from the old days when it would be just a short stop to get the cash. Then they just started calling them shortstops.
We all know how american slang gets going. This turns into this and that turns into that.
Made sense to me........
If I found a cheap or free place to play I would take my time. I would get the pecking order and know who liked to bet the most and went from there.
Every once in a while there would be a guy in the town that would bet alot on some of his favorites so it might be to your advantage back then to lay down a little. The longer you were there the more realistic it looked. You could become one of the boys in a real quick hurry.
People gave the name of short stop to most of these top 5 players but it should have been reserved for the top few that would bet some money and were capable of getting the cash sometimes against some of the best players around. . It was for the few that could just almost get there against most top players.
A true shortstop is a dangerous person right on the edge of playing some really great pool.
I busted Jimmy Gracek from Michigan in about 95 or 96. He had just won about 3 or 4 big tournaments. After he left we saw his picture on the front of one of the magazines.
One of the 2 guys that backed him said his buddy told him there was this shortstop in Wisconsin that would bet it up and had a nightclub named Geno's saloon.
I played $200 sets for the first 2 days. I hadn't played for about a week. Needed to get in stroke a little. They were OK with that because they were getting $500 to $1000 bet on the side with my customers.
The 3rd day my customers quit betting. i was stuck about $800 myself. They wanted me to bet more now and I felt pretty good so we started betting $1000 and eventually $1500 a set if i remember right.
They ran out of money. I'll never forget what the one backer said.
Shortstop Huh. I wish it was a shorter stop.
I not sure but the term shortstop I think was from the old days when it would be just a short stop to get the cash. Then they just started calling them shortstops.
We all know how american slang gets going. This turns into this and that turns into that.
Made sense to me........
Give me your opinions was I or wasn't I a short stop.
Back in the 80's I played my best pool. I had a high run of 5 racks of 9 ball and was always a threat to run a couple of racks and did so quite often.
In straight pool I ran just over a 100 a couple of times and would occasionally run a 60 or 70 but was a solid threat to run a 40 or so .
I played Neptune Joe Frady with the 7 or 8 depending on who was in dead punch or not. Jimmy Fusco with the 8. Rodney Morris offered me the 7 and I was going to play him but his minimum bet was too high for me.
I played every living unknown human that walked in the room and beat most except a few road players. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but here are some solid facts to help determine a short stops speed.
Back in the 80's I played my best pool. I had a high run of 5 racks of 9 ball and was always a threat to run a couple of racks and did so quite often.
In straight pool I ran just over a 100 a couple of times and would occasionally run a 60 or 70 but was a solid threat to run a 40 or so .
I played Neptune Joe Frady with the 7 or 8 depending on who was in dead punch or not. Jimmy Fusco with the 8. Rodney Morris offered me the 7 and I was going to play him but his minimum bet was too high for me.
I played every living unknown human that walked in the room and beat most except a few road players. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but here are some solid facts to help determine a short stops speed.
Not quite....you have to run a hundred a "few" times...."couple" does not qualify...sorry
FWIW here is the break down of rankings as "Goose" sees it.
World Beater - Efren, Earl, Buddy, Segal, Helfert etc.
Pro - Max, Freezer, Cory, Hillbilly, Oscar, Rodney etc.
ShortStop - "Jimmy" (from Kolby's)
"A Rated" - It does not really matter at this point....your good...but you are still a sucker.
I keep reading that "short stops" are decent players. How did the term 'shortstop' come about?
Is it suppose to be obvious to me that shortstop means a good player? Or is it a long-time pool term I just hadn't heard a lot of?
Obviously there are shortstops in baseball, so I always wondered if and how they were related to how we use the term in regard to pool players.
Don't shoot the female messenger!
From Mike Shamos' "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards"
"shortstop
A player who can be beaten only by the top players. 1970 Fensch 161. An excellent player, but one of the second rank. 1967 Polsky 10. A professional who just misses championship form, i.e. one who 'stops short'.' The term was originated by J. Frawley, champion billiardist of Ohio, in 1887. 1898 Thatcher, 1899 Souv 18, 1925 BM (Mar) 22. Competitions were often designated as 'shortstop tournaments' to denote the caliber of players participating."
Lou Figueroa