I also stopped by New hollywood cemetary and paid my respect to wimpy and when I touched his headstone I felt energized and inspired since I never got to meet him personally.
Bobby Chamberlain
Bobby,
I really enjoyed your story about playing on Wimpy's table. In the late 1960's, my dad and I used to watch 14.1 matches on TV, with Wimpy playing Irving Crane and others.
In April 1970, I got to see Wimpy play in Aberdeen, Maryland for several hours and I got to talk with him for about 5 minutes. Luther was traveling with short, fat cigar smoking manager who went by the name, Al Sunshine.
First, Wimpy played the Maryland State Champion in Straight pool, and he was really on that day. He ran about 100 balls and seemed in total control.
He also played an beat the guy in 9-ball. I remember that on one game, he was moving balls around with the butt of his cue, when his opponent wasn't looking. At first, the crowd was pretty shocked, and then people started snickering. Wimpy's opponent never saw what was going on.
After the first game, he said that you have to "really pay attention" when playing certain people because they have certain tricks they can use to win. He confessed to a little "sleight of hand" and his opponent took it all in stride.
I have a PDF file that has a photo of Wimpy doing a trick shot, and I can be seen sitting in the first row with my mouth wide open. I was about 16 years old at the time. I will try to upload it, but if it won't go, I would be glad to email it to you or anyone.
When remembering that day, i can still picture Wimpy sort of shuffling around the table, occasssionally sniffling, and eyeing up the next shot, and his manager made wagers with some sweators in the back. I don't think anyone was betting on the other guy to beat Wimpy, but just by house much Wimpy would be him by.
One of the questions I asked Luther was, What is the most balls you ever ran in straight pool. He told me that he had several runs of about 200 balls, but didnt' usually try to run any more than 200 balls.
He did say that he ran a whole lot of balls in practice one day, somewhere in Virginia. He said that he started out just practicing striaght pool, and ran rack after rack after rack. He said that after awhile, someone asked him how many balls he had run, and he said he never actually kept track. But he said that he shot straight pool for 5 or 6 hours without missing a shot, and eventually got tired and quit. He said that this was the most he ever ran, but he wasn't sure how many it was.
Bobby, as you know, Mike Sigel stayed with me off and on for the past few months and he has now moved to Frederick, MD and is now the house pro at Champion Billiards Sports Cafe. Mike told me some stories about when he played Wimpy and it was great. Mike said that when he played Wimpy, he (Mike) was really coming on strong and Wimpy was getting older, so he never got to see Lassiter at his very best.
I hope to come watch you and Mike Sigel and others play in the MD Straight pool tournament June 19-20, 2010. See you there.
Dan
The Chopper
