The birth of straight pool

Check this out, there are tons of old articles on Jerome Keogh, Alfredo De Oro, Ralph Greenleaf, Cyrille Dion etc.

Most of them are match scores but it's still fascinating.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900E5DB1239E13ABC4E52DFB7678383609EDE

Here is Alfredo De Oro setting the high run record for 1910

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9903E1DE1638E333A25752C0A9649D946196D6CF

The only down side is that you have to be a subscriber to view anything as recent as 1922.
 
Thanks very much for posting these, also extreme thanks to Keogh for coming up with concept of the 14.1 game we all love. I agree with him the open break allows for the difference in skill to show

I also want to point out to the reader about the link to the hi run by De Oro. Read this it reviews portions of the games, talks about hi's and lows. It is a real news article in a mainstream major paper. That is what we will need to ever get mainstream cash into the game.
 
Why isn't Jerome Keogh in the hall of fame? He won world titles, was a great player of that era and he invented a game the greatest game of all.
 
smoooothstroke said:
How would they get the players to not open with a safe break?
Click to expand...

Previous to 1910 they didn't use break balls, that is, instead of re-racking after 14 balls had been pocketed, they re-racked after 15 balls had been pocketed.

The beginning of each rack was effectively the same as beginning the game again however the points accumulated from rack to rack. All 15 balls were racked, cue ball behind the head string and you had to call a ball off the break. Which means they played safe at the beginning of each rack.

This was the championship game from 1888 to 1910.

The addition of the break ball gave a reliable ball to call on the break and continue their runs from rack to rack.

I would not be surprised if I were to learn that some professionals chose not to use a break ball, and still played safe. I have heard numerous times that Frank Taberski was known from running 15 and playing safe.

Some further research is required I think.

To answer the question more directly though, it does not force them them abandon safety breaks, but the benefits of avoiding an uncertain exchange would too much to ignore for great players. That and the prestige that eventually came with producing high runs.

*If there are flaws in my history, I apologize as I am reciting from memory, I'm going to look into this further*

P.S. If you can't tell I'm a history buff :D

EDIT: Changed a date to maintain credibility.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top