Thoughts About Ralph Greenleaf And Alcoholism

[kling&allen]

I’m curious then, how he ended up buried in his small home town, and with no headstone?

Good question. My best answer is that when he was buried (in 1950) he had some sort of appropriate headstone. He died in March 1950 near the end of a 6-month successful exhibition tour. He played Ponzi in a big week-long exhibition in NYC in late 1949. Ralph's wife (Amelia) traveled with him throughout the tour and was the one who brought him to the hospital. Why she chose to bury him in Monmouth (Ralph's hometown) and not Philly, NJ, Maryland, or NYC (where they lived when not on the road), I don't know. Perhaps Ralph wanted to be close to his parents' grave. Ralph's death and burial were reported in the local Monmouth papers, they were proud of their local son, and none mentioned a pauper's grave or anything abnormal. Ralph's earnings in his last 6 months would have been close to $50k in today's dollars, so at that time there would have been money for a headstone. Ralph died in Philly so there was money to transport him to Monmouth.

Amelia didn't pass away until 1979 and was not wealthy at the time of her death. And she and Ralph had no kids. Amelia was buried next to Ralph and perhaps there was no money for a joint headstone.

 

[kling&allen]

Here is more information on the sequence of events from an Illinois newspaper. After he died, he lied in state in Philly, then was moved to NJ for a funeral , and then was ultimately buried in Monmouth.

 

[Texas Carom Club]

Snooker Theory...You're correct, that character is Gollum, originally a human man, but changed by having possession of the "One ring" for something like 500 years (possession of the ring stops aging, among other things). Me...I love JRR Tolkien, and have read the books a half dozen times over the past 60 years, and seen all the movies numerous times. Call me a fan.

Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour

gollum was born by the name of smeagol,he was a hobbit
like bilbo

 

[justadub]

We have all heard of chemical players, alcohol is just another chemical. Not proud of it but I drank heavily in my peak pool years. When sober I played a more aggressive style and hit balls harder. After drinking awhile I hit softer and smoothed out the jaggedness of my play sober. I was as good or a better player drinking, just that change in styles. I eventually recognized this and smoothed out my play sober.

Neither Scotty or I were ever anywhere near Greenleaf's level but Scotty Townsend made a living gambling for decades and took down countless tournaments. Saw him here and there for many years. Never saw him sloppy drunk despite taking in huge quantities of alcohol, never saw him sober either. One tournament he was getting around a fifth or quart of hard liquor, he won, another one he was keeping count of beer he had drank at that tournament for some reason. The count was 72 early Sunday. He hadn't slacked up when I left late Sunday and he was still in the tournament. He finished first or second in that regional level tournament drawing players from across the gulf coast and a few other states. I wouldn't bet he drank a hundred beers, but I wouldn't bet he didn't drink ninety in that roughly sixty hours including time not playing in the tournament.

Hu

I'm not a very good player to begin with. It's funny for me, analyzing my playing at different levels of drink. When I haven't had anything to drink, I'm using more aggressive, as you noted in your earlier days. I finally came to the conclusion that I didn't so much "need the drink" for the drinks sake, something I've always tried to be aware of, and to not fall into the trap of. Rather, I needed to slow down in general from my accelerated pace of living...coming from a full day of work, in a stressful retail environment, hurrying home to have some dinner and family time before hurrying to the pool room to be there in time for league. Add to that coffee and/or sodas, with the sugar and the caffeine, along with my higher strung personality, and I'm just wound up by the time I go to play pool. Having "a" drink tends to get my whole world to slow down some.

The key to that, for me, is keeping to one or two social drinks. Sometimes when I'm particularly wound up, I can play through a much larger amount of alcohol, and not see any difference. (Last for instance. Adrenalin versus alcohol...)

There is a regular in our club who plays at a much higher level than I do. I've seen him barely able to stand up from being so drunk, and he still shot better than anyone in the room. So I've seen it before. I'm not that guy...

 

[Protractor]

How in the hell can someone perform at that gear drunk?

Blows my mind away that something requiring such exacting precision can be executed inebriated.

Trust me, it can be done.

 

[alstl]

View attachment 577251

Here is more information on the sequence of events from an Illinois newspaper. After he died, he lied in state in Philly, then was moved to NJ for a funeral , and then was ultimately buried in Monmouth.

Edward Ralph Greenleaf (1899-1950) - Find a Grave...

Ralph Greenleaf is considered by many, to be the greatest pocket billiard player that ever lived. As a boy he defeated then World Champion Bennie Allen. He held the title from 1919 through 1924, and also won it in 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, and 1937. He set records in 1929 for high single...

www.findagrave.com

 

[Nccm]

I'm not a very good player to begin with. It's funny for me, analyzing my playing at different levels of drink. When I haven't had anything to drink, I'm using more aggressive, as you noted in your earlier days. I finally came to the conclusion that I didn't so much "need the drink" for the drinks sake, something I've always tried to be aware of, and to not fall into the trap of. Rather, I needed to slow down in general from my accelerated pace of living...coming from a full day of work, in a stressful retail environment, hurrying home to have some dinner and family time before hurrying to the pool room to be there in time for league. Add to that coffee and/or sodas, with the sugar and the caffeine, along with my higher strung personality, and I'm just wound up by the time I go to play pool. Having "a" drink tends to get my whole world to slow down some.

The key to that, for me, is keeping to one or two social drinks. Sometimes when I'm particularly wound up, I can play through a much larger amount of alcohol, and not see any difference. (Last for instance. Adrenalin versus alcohol...)

There is a regular in our club who plays at a much higher level than I do. I've seen him barely able to stand up from being so drunk, and he still shot better than anyone in the room. So I've seen it before. I'm not that guy...

I played pretty decent 3 cushion in the early nineties, usually averaging about a 1 per inning in a 30 or 50 point game, I played a guy one night that could barely stand who usually played about my speed but I figured how an I loose. We played 3 games for $50 a game and he won the first 2 by about 4 or points and the 3rd by about 10. He drank the whole time and got better the more he drank. I quit and he kept drinking until he couldn't even walk out of the pool room by him self. Go figure and I still averaged over 1 an inning

 

[pt109]

Good question. My best answer is that when he was buried (in 1950) he had some sort of appropriate headstone. He died in March 1950 near the end of a 6-month successful exhibition tour. He played Ponzi in a big week-long exhibition in NYC in late 1949. Ralph's wife (Amelia) traveled with him throughout the tour and was the one who brought him to the hospital. Why she chose to bury him in Monmouth (Ralph's hometown) and not Philly, NJ, Maryland, or NYC (where they lived when not on the road), I don't know. Perhaps Ralph wanted to be close to his parents' grave. Ralph's death and burial were reported in the local Monmouth papers, they were proud of their local son, and none mentioned a pauper's grave or anything abnormal. Ralph's earnings in his last 6 months would have been close to $50k in today's dollars, so at that time there would have been money for a headstone. Ralph died in Philly so there was money to transport him to Monmouth.

Amelia didn't pass away until 1979 and was not wealthy at the time of her death. And she and Ralph had no kids. Amelia was buried next to Ralph and perhaps there was no money for a joint headstone.

Found this whilst browsing....

 

[Ssonerai]

Always imagined Amelia must have been a special person. Plus she was 5 or 6 yrs older than Ralph.
Not only remarkable, gorgeous too!

An Interview with Greenleaf's Widow, the Princess Nai Tai Tai - Pool History

Vaudeville star Amelia Parker and celebrated billiard champion Ralph Greenleaf met in Philadelphia, and it is there — in the City of Brotherly Love, that Amelia put down deep roots until the end of her days.

poolhistory.com

smt

 

[DynoDan]

Found this whilst browsing....View attachment 577311

I read back in the early 90s about how pool players in a nearby town had taken up a collection to buy that stone. I only assumed there was no original one it replaced.

 

[claymont]

Always imagined Amelia must have been a special person. Plus she was 5 or 6 yrs older than Ralph.
Not only remarkable, gorgeous too!

An Interview with Greenleaf's Widow, the Princess Nai Tai Tai - Pool History

Vaudeville star Amelia Parker and celebrated billiard champion Ralph Greenleaf met in Philadelphia, and it is there — in the City of Brotherly Love, that Amelia put down deep roots until the end of her days.

poolhistory.com

smt

I was just about to post a link to the same story, didn't go to your link first...oops
Very interesting read.

 

[Scott Lee]

gollum was born by the name of smeagol,he was a hobbit
like bilbo

Ummm, no Deagol and Smeagol were men and brothers, not hobbits, as clearly detailed in the books and the movie.

Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour

 

[Texas Carom Club]

Ummm, no Deagol and Smeagol were men and brothers, not hobbits, as clearly detailed in the books and the movie.

Scott Lee
2019 PBIA Instructor of the Year
Director, SPF National Pool School Tour

Interesting
Never heard that

 

[Mike the Beginner]

How in the hell can someone perform at that gear drunk?

Blows my mind away that something requiring such exacting precision can be executed inebriated.

Guy I knew was the best player in the whole league and I once saw him blow ball-in-hand not once but twice in the same rack because he was so drunk. And I was marveling at him because he could still stand up and speak! I thought that was impressive enough. As things were breaking up that night, the bar owner came up to me and confided, "whenever we have to play H---- I just set him up with two free shots at the beginning of the evening. He does the rest himself. That way he doesn't hurt our team."