World Record: 526 balls

[measureman]

Love ya Scott, but the JC 14.1 matches were 125 points. Lassiter did consistently make 90+ runs match after match. He was by far the best Straight Pool player there. And Crane came to many of them also. So did Balsis. I personally watched Lassiter post 90+ runs in about five or six matches in a row. He blew everyone out quick. Still I would pick Mosconi over Lassiter at their peaks. Willie intimidated everyone!

I thought Lassiter would not be intimidated by anyone. Am I wrong on this?

 

[Rich93]

Something that happens several times in a lifetime is not a "near impossibility". If it happened once in say a 100+ years then you could say it's maybe a near impossibility or highly unlikely. But 10+ racks in a row has happened quite a bit, here a just a few I can think of off the top of my head:

Earl's 11 racks
Lassiter's 16 racks
Archer's 13 racks (+2 in the next set so really 15 racks in a row)
Neils Feijien's 15 racks
Scotty Townsend 10+ racks (not sure of the exact number)

And I have seen amateur players who are well under world class speed run 6-7-8 packs before so 10 is certainly not in the realm of "near impossible".

I'm sure McCready, Reyes, Bustamante etc have run 10 consecutive racks in practice before. In fact Reyes ran an 8 pack AND a 9 pack in same tournament! It was in the World 9 ball Championships no less.

As it happens, I just watched the hour-long interview with Mika Immonen done by Jim Murnak. He was asked how many racks he's run in a row - 12. He was down 4-0 in some tournament and ran 9 and out, then in the next match he won the lag and ran 3 more.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

Excuse me, where did I ask you, to grant me creditability/

Do I seek it from you, or any one here, no. Do I care, if I get it from you guys or not, no.

This is not the usa senate, where the longer you sit, the more they take you serious and the older you get, the more senile you become.

You can be here, post 10,000 times, and only prove, 10,000 times your an idiot and remove all doubt of that.

Why do I have to apprentice here kissing your arses for a year, before any one takes me serious I now ask you laddie?

You should only be concerned with my words, my message, and not my seniority here. I wont be around much longer, from what I have seen, all this place does, is shut off any new thought and erases it, like they did with Ray Martin. They cant handle, any thing new and fresh. All you want, is somebody telling you, they agree with what you think. If they do that, you love them. If they dont, then you are a bloody arse hole.

I deal with enough stooges in the regular works.
You've been here for a whole day and want to rock the boat?

Consider this your warning.

If you want to remain a member of this board, please re-read the rules for posting here.

 

[lfigueroa]

I was a Johnston City every year but the first. I dont recall Wimpy ever running the whole game out from the break, let alone doing it 5 times in a row. Plus the matches of 14.1 were usually only 125 pts. I know that they changed it to 150 points for at least one year because Balsis ran 150 and out on Crane down there. Remember Crane had run 150 and out on Balsis at the US Open in Chicago. This was their next meeting which prompted Jersey Red to say, "No point in them two playing anymore, they should just lag for the break."

Willie Mosconi was the greatest I ever saw. Willie gave three exhibitions at my neighborhood pool room, The Dragon Cue, in Chicago's Chinatown. Mosconi played three 200-point games in a three-day period. Willie ran 200 and out the first game he played. He played the owner's daughter, Helen Wing. When Mosconi reached 200 points, he stopped shooting and gave a trick-shot exhibition. The next day Mosconi ran 200 and out again, and again stopped shooting at 200. He had played the owner, Jimmy Wing. The third day, I was his opponent. I gave him a modicum of trouble. The score was 40 to 39 when Mosconi ran 160 and out on me. Then more trick shots— which he never missed. The games were played on 4 1/2' x 9' Brunswick Anniversary Tables with 5" pockets.


Beard

Willie was the best and it doesn't matter if someone breaks the record. Willie just walked into a strange environment, dealt with the conditions and distractions, and ran balls forever. And then moved on to the next town.

To put a finer point on it: he wasn't in some hermetically sealed, pure environment, with a perfect table, pockets, cloth, lack of distractions, maybe soft music in the background. He certainly didn't get multiple redos for days on end while a live crowd twiddled their thumbs. He'd go into a town, a strange pool room, alien table, and do it -- over and over and over again all across the country. The only concession he made was bringing his own set of balls and asking the room to recover the table and he was good to go. That's why we're still talking about him today and the first hand reports are all the same:

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Mosconi was always nattily dressed in sports coat and tie. He'd come into the room with a box of balls and a luggage-style cue case. His hair was pure white and he always had this very elegant, tailored look about him. To warm up, he'd rack all fifteen balls, separate the head ball and set up a break shot off to the left of the rack. The break shots he seemed to favor were always a little steeper than I would have thought comfortable, but they certainly didn't slow him up.

He'd run off two racks and then be done, ready to play his opponent, 150 points of 14.1. Depending on whom he was playing, he'd often kick into the back of the stack and play the head ball two rails into the side, just to give his opponent the chance at a running start. He'd always run at least a 100 and I saw him go 150 and out twice. If he had missed somewhere along the way and got out running a 50, or something like that, he'd turn to the crowd and ask, "Would you like to see a 100 ball run?" And we'd all go, "Well, yes." And he'd keep shooting and always get the 100. Then he'd shoot some trick shots, including some pretty nifty masses, and then hang around and talk and sign autographs. (It's the only autograph I have ever asked for in my life.)
#####

*No player today* can do what he did, day in and day out.

Lou Figueroa

 

[Curly Howard]

I thought Lassiter would not be intimidated by anyone. Am I wrong on this?

No, he could watch you for an hour, and say, that guy only missed two balls, that means, I can take him. When he was out on the road with Don, the two were virtually un beatable. He dominated the mid 60's Johnson city venues. Watching him and shorty fight it out over one pocket, was a dream come true from up on those old wooden seats in the pit. The man, was simply a grand master at his sport, he was magnificent.

 

[jay helfert]

I thought Lassiter would not be intimidated by anyone. Am I wrong on this?

Mosconi had a funny effect on every one in the 40's and 50's I've been told. check out his record back then. He was DOMINANT, with Crane or Caras usually finishing second. They were his stiffest opposition. No one else seemed to play their best game against him. Although Lassiter may have been the best Straight Pool player during the 60's (along with Balsis) he did not fare well against Willie as a younger man in the 50's. I don't think he ever won a match against Mosconi. Charlie Ursitti or Mike Shamos would have the records on those events they both played in.

Luther's reputation was built playing 9-Ball for money. That was his bread and butter game. He did not focus on 14.1 until the 60's, long after Willie had retired. Lassiter did play in several of the 14.1 World Championships during the 50's, never winning as far as I know. I don't see his name in the record books until the early 60's.

 

[Curly Howard]

Excellent post, right on, totally correct. Maybe you were not asleep most of the time, as I though you were. :thumbup:

 

[Mark Griffin]

Mosconi - 526 and $1 million

I only got to see Willie Mosconi once - and that was in 1986.

Remember, I lived in Anchorage, Alaska for many years. He came up for the opeing of "Bank Shot Billiards" located on West Northern Lights blvd.

You could tell he could stll play - but was way past his prime.

I just don't think running 526+ is going to happen overnite - but could happen.

FYI - at the hi-run challenge we had at the BCAPL this year in Vegas, we tried to get some insurance to acquire $1 million in prize for beating 526. It was prohibitive. The best we could come up with was $5,000 fee for $100,000 prize. And that was only good for the 10 days we would be functioning.

We will continue to research a little more over the next year or so.

Just wanted all to know we tried. I think it would be nice to get a big prize together for anyone that is successful.

But I do not think putting an asterick because it was on Simonis cloth, or on an 8' table is proper. I do believe history should document the specifications on the table - but 526 is a LOT of balls.

I also believe there were higher runs by Cranfield, Euphemia, and by Mosconi himself. Charlie Ursitti had mentioned to me some of Willie's higher runs. It just was no big deal to Willie.

I thought I remembered the actual table being available for purchase a few years ago - maybe the room was closing or something. Anyone else remember that? The table could be 'checked' - but that would not mean the pockets had not been changed.

mark Griffin

 

[vincentwu817]

Was born in 88 so never gotten the chance to see him play lol. Let's just say, appreciate the legend and keep it at that. No need to try to dethrone him or make comparisons. The era is different and its difficult to make a comparison when so many factors are different. This is just as annoying as the Michael Jordan comparisons in basketball. I won't be surprised if Mosconi won't be successful if he played today in our era, but that is irrelevant. He was a legend of his time and let's just appreciate him for that.