I have a few, some of which are X Rated and do not belong on here. One of my favorite Shorty stories took place at the BCA Nationals maybe 20 years ago. Someone brought Shorty to play in the Senior's division. He had never played in a so called "amateur" event before and not everybody knew Shorty from the past, especially out West.
So I wander in and see Shorty practicing on a bar table and said hello to him. I had never ever seen him play bar table pool so I was curious what he thought about it, so I asked him. He gave me a sideways glance and cracked, "These tables are a joke. How can you ever miss a ball on them?" I smiled as I realized he was used to playing on a lot tougher equipment.
In comes King Kong, at that time one of the best bar table players on the West Coast. A real money game killer. He stops and watches this little bald headed guy run a couple of racks and I can tell he's curious who he is. Kong being Kong pipes up, "You play pretty good sir. Would you like to play for some money?" Shorty stops and eyes Kong over, like who TF are you talking to me that way. Little does Kong know that he's f'ck'g with a guy who has played and beaten the best players in the world for money, many many times!
After a moment or two Shorty responds, "What did you have in mind?" Shorty is not one to miss out on an opportunity to make some extra money. Kong says, "How about we play six ahead 9-Ball for $300?" That's a pretty hefty bet and I think Kong wants to see if this guy has any gamble. Shorty doesn't take long in responding though, "Sure, why not." He doesn't try to negotiate in any way with Kong, simply accepts his bet. Kong looks happy, like he's found a mark.
They post the money with me ($600) and off they go. I won't go into all the details, mainly because I don't remember all of them. But what I do remember is that Shorty bombed King Kong for five or six sets at 300 a pop in less than two hours. He must have run six racks on him a couple of times and several fours and fives. It was a complete blow out and Kong never knew what hit him. After it was all over and he had been emptied out by the little bald guy, Kong looked at me with an exasperated look on his face, "Who is this old man!" I couldn't help but laugh, but I didn't tell him he had just played the infamous Boston Shorty, a killer of killers.
Another time I'll tell you the story about the time the great Steve Mizerak took a road trip to Boston and got into a cab driven by Shorty and asked him where he could find a pool game. Big mistake by Steve! :wink:
