Unknown "monster" players

dogginda9

I need a vacation.
Silver Member
Another Georgia champ

Whatever happened to Bob Stovall from Georgia? In the 80's and early 90's he hit em pretty damn good on a bar table. Haven't heard his name in years. Anyone have a good comparison as to how good he used to play? Thanks
 

Southpaw

Swing away, Meril....
Silver Member
dogginda9 said:
Whatever happened to Bob Stovall from Georgia? In the 80's and early 90's he hit em pretty damn good on a bar table. Haven't heard his name in years. Anyone have a good comparison as to how good he used to play? Thanks

The stories I have heard about Stovall is that he was a strong strong player. They say he played better than Bruce Berrong. I have never seen him play, nor do I know if he is still living.

Southpaw
 

jrhendy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
demonrho said:
Also known as Baltimore Buddy. Talking about Buddys... anyone remember Mexican Buddy or San Jose Buddy? (He is actually half Filipino I think.)

Little Buddy might have been one the best players ever out of San Jose & the Bay Area if he would have kept on playing. He loved one pocket at a young age, and by the time he was in his late teens he was a monster. He went on the road with Hawaiian Brian and that didn't hurt him any. I played one pocket with him quite a few times at California Billiards in San Jose, and before Brian got ahold of him, his game was eight & out or lose. If he was on a run, he wouldn't think of playing safe and locking the game up. Brian changed all that. 20+ years ago I had just beat Mike Sigel to finish fairly high in the Jointed Cue Tournament and was feeling pretty good about myself. Buddy asked me to play some and I said yes, but you have to bet $500. He almost ripped his Levis getting the $$ out. We played 7 ahead and he beat me in about 30 minutes. I saw Brian laughing and that was when I found out they had been on the road, and Brian told me Buddy hadn't missed a ball in about a month. Last time I saw him play he beat Monk playing one pocket and 9 ball at Great American Billiards in Sacramento and that was some time ago. I did run into him in Southern California a few years back and he was working, raising a family and not playing pool. John Henderson
 

Ltldebbie

Ltldebbie
Silver Member
Yes, I remember

demonrho said:
Also known as Baltimore Buddy. Talking about Buddys... anyone remember Mexican Buddy or San Jose Buddy? (He is actually half Filipino I think.)


I remember little Buddy with the big feet. I remember Being at the Jointed Cue. Kinda mad about to make a run to the grill. When a little mexican boy says.....Hey lady watch this hit. I say why? He says for because I'm playing for a hundred. Needless to say I watched the hit. Good Hit. Very good hit.
 

Eric Wynne

Banned
Anybody ever hear of Curtis Payne, or KGB , Tall Paul ,Gilbert Martinez,David Hensen, Super Mex , Little Hand , Hippie Dave ,Little Miami , Black Danny -(best dressed one pocket player in history), Squirrel ,James Christopher,Joe Bolman,Richie Ambrose, Steve Gumphreys,Edgar White, Sonny Glen, and if I sit here long enough I could pick my failing memory for even more ... the best player isn't the person who plays the best , it's whoever wins the most money ...
 

8ballEinstein

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
jrhendy said:
Little Buddy might have been one the best players ever out of San Jose & the Bay Area if he would have kept on playing. He loved one pocket at a young age, and by the time he was in his late teens he was a monster. He went on the road with Hawaiian Brian and that didn't hurt him any. I played one pocket with him quite a few times at California Billiards in San Jose, and before Brian got ahold of him, his game was eight & out or lose. If he was on a run, he wouldn't think of playing safe and locking the game up. Brian changed all that. 20+ years ago I had just beat Mike Sigel to finish fairly high in the Jointed Cue Tournament and was feeling pretty good about myself. Buddy asked me to play some and I said yes, but you have to bet $500. He almost ripped his Levis getting the $$ out. We played 7 ahead and he beat me in about 30 minutes. I saw Brian laughing and that was when I found out they had been on the road, and Brian told me Buddy hadn't missed a ball in about a month. Last time I saw him play he beat Monk playing one pocket and 9 ball at Great American Billiards in Sacramento and that was some time ago. I did run into him in Southern California a few years back and he was working, raising a family and not playing pool. John Henderson

Last time I saw Little Buddy, he was living in Lake Elsinor, CA. I also lived in the area for a while. He hadn't played pool in a long time so I didn't immediately recognize him. When he got up to shoot some for fun, I quickly realized it was Buddy. His stance and stroke gave it all away. At the time, many of us were trying to convince him to start playing again. He had no interest. Instead, he wanted to be a responsible husband and a working man - I believe he was a carpenter.

Back in the day, Buddy was an incredible talent. I remember him beating Cecil Tugwell in One-Pocket. After hours at the Stagger Inn in LA, there were those who asked why Buddy wasn't in action. The standard response was, "No one wants anything to do with him".
 

8ballEinstein

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
dabarbr said:
I believe these were two different guys. I played them both.
Baltimore Buddy was a bigger man than Buddy Dennis. Both played very good. I gave the edge to Baltimore Buddy.

Actually, I remember Buddy Dennis also being called Baltimore Buddy. The guy you may be thinking of was Baltimore Jerry. He was a big man who shot real good pool in So Cal during the mid-80's.
 

DoubleA

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Southpaw said:
He sent Sigel and Jimmy Mataya home talking to their selves. They couldnt believe this guy from the sticks was tearing them a new one on a barbox. Also, another Georgia player who is/ was pretty unkown is Randy Burris. Randy still plays good when hes playing and capable of beating anyone. He plays all games well.

Southpaw
If it's same Randy Burris that I'm familiar with, he plays in the Smoky Mtn. Shootout about every yr. He wasn,t there this yr., at least not as a player. You're right, he is a pretty strong player. Maybe he was like a lot of others and just didn't get his entry in early enough.
 

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
I never did see, John Shuput's name or John Abruzzo, these guys could play, I'd love to hear some old time stories about Abruzzo, heard at one time he used to travel with Lassiter, he still plays/bets dam good. And dbarbr Gabby was one of the nicest players I ever matched up with in my LB Bill days. He never beat me and always used to say "Slim I can't beat you" every time after he paid me, I also took down Earl the Pearl at Long Beach Billiards on Atlantic Blvd for $2,000 in 78-79 on the 9', the tables were damp, dirty, we played two shot shoot out, he gave me the wild 8 then the call 8 then the last two, and as he and Monroe were walking out the door I said I'll play even, they kept walkin'. Earls pocketing ability was quite amazing at the time, but he didn't manage his game well enough to win in those conditons (we turned on the swamp cooler), I also told him "you'd be a great player if you would learn to follow your ball" he drew every shot...I mean EVERY shot with low ball, on a dry table I could not of beat em.
 

mark8950

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
i beat andy in 1970 in wichita falls tx.

roosterman said:
How about Andy Olguin in Amarillo,Tx.He beat alot of people between about 1968-78.He beat Buddy hall twice,Ronnie Allen,Flyboy.His favorite saying is bet high and sleep in the street.
i remember andy , if u see him tell him he still owes me the 100 walking stick i gave him when i busted him in wichita falls tx 1970. sparky
 

obrien714

Pool Video Addict
Silver Member
Wow, just read all 20 pages.

What a read. Some names were familiar others i have never heard of. I am originally from the Pittsburgh PA area. There were a few great players from our little town. One of them won the BCA single in 91 or 92. Little Mikey, the Dwarf, Mike McClain. From the stories i heard he traveled alot down south and made many large scores. Another of our towns greats is a great guy named Jerry Elliot. He never played any large tourneys. He traveled to Pittsburgh and Morgantown Wv, were his stomping ground. He would grind it out with anyone. He played all games well but one pocket was his masterpiece. A road player from indiana comes into the bar where we all hung out. He talked a nobody into a set for 500. He wiped our guy up. Jerry walks through the door and asks the Indiana guy what he thinks hes doin hustlin the young kids. I hear your lookin for me. They hook up for 10 ahead for 2k . They grind it out for 4 hours and jerry puts together a strong 30 minutes and finishes him. They play again and he snapped him off in less than an hour. I dont remember the road players name. I always tried to get Jerry to go to tourneys and he was happy in his little realm of our area.

Anyone ever hear of them.

A few other names from the area were Ernie the Jeweler, Stevie, from dormont. Slivka came up when he was young there

Any one else out there from SW PENNSYLVANIA. I know some one has to know some names from there.

Cheers
PAt
 

Raecarmia

"Only the finest"
Silver Member
how about.......

anyone ever heard of a player named Steve Kolari? He was small in stature but had more heart than any player I've ever known. I was on the road with him in the mid eighties and again around 92. I watched him walk thru some incredible players in CA,and AZ. He was also a hard core roady.. one time in a small town near El Centro CA, he asked me if I minded stoping at the next car wash so he could take a quick shower......Now thats hard core...LOL.... so we did and he wound up finding action and beating a national level three cushion player out of 1500, and he didn't even play three cusion...he just refused to quit and was impressive to say the least.


Raecarmia
 

8ballEinstein

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Raecarmia said:
anyone ever heard of a player named Steve Kolari? He was small in stature but had more heart than any player I've ever known. I was on the road with him in the mid eighties and again around 92. I watched him walk thru some incredible players in CA,and AZ. He was also a hard core roady.. one time in a small town near El Centro CA, he asked me if I minded stoping at the next car wash so he could take a quick shower......Now thats hard core...LOL.... so we did and he wound up finding action and beating a national level three cushion player out of 1500, and he didn't even play three cusion...he just refused to quit and was impressive to say the least.


Raecarmia
Yes, Steve Kolari was all the things you mention. He rarely plays anymore.
 

androd

androd
Silver Member
mark8950 said:
i remember andy , if u see him tell him he still owes me the 100 walking stick i gave him when i busted him in wichita falls tx 1970. sparky
walking sticks are from the goodness of your heart , if it wasn't a loan ,don't make a thing of it !
 

dabarbr

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
8ballEinstein said:
Actually, I remember Buddy Dennis also being called Baltimore Buddy. The guy you may be thinking of was Baltimore Jerry. He was a big man who shot real good pool in So Cal during the mid-80's.
You are absoluty correct. Just my old age showing. It was Jerry. Thanks for the memory jar.
 
Top