Willie Mosconi, the best pocket billiards (pool) player of the 20th century

William Joseph Mosconi (June 27th, 1913 – September 17th, 1993) was an american professional pool player born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between the years 1941 and 1957, he won the 14.1 (Straight Pool) World Championship fifteen times. For most of the 20th century, his name was synonymous with billiards in North America: he was nicknamed “Mr. Pocket Billiards” and he was quickly inducted into the Billiards Congress of America Hall of Fame (BCA Hall of Fame). Mosconi pioneered numerous records, invented numerous trick shots, and helped popularize billiards as a sporting activity in his native country.

 

Willie Mosconi, a benchmark and pool prodigy 

During the 1940s and 1950s, the predominant modality of pocket billiards (pool) was 14.1 (Straight Pool), a specialty considered by those nostalgic for those times as the most difficult with respect to the predominant game today, which is Nine Ball. Mosconi set the world record of 526 consecutive balls in 1954, a mark that remained unbeaten for no less than six decades.

 

The Mosconi family lived upstairs from the pool hall owned by Willie’s father, Joseph Mosconi. Despite this, Joseph was initially and adamantly opposed to his son playing pool, preferring that he focus on other things. So much so that he tried to keep him away from the billiards by hiding the billiard balls, but Willie improvised by practicing with a broomstick and small potatoes from the kitchen of his house, according to his autobiography.

 

The young Mosconi was a true prodigy and his father soon realized that his genius and talent could help the family finances. Joseph Mosconi began organizing and promoting matchups, and even though Willie had to climb on a box to get to the table, he beat players far more experienced and older than himself.

 

In 1919, an exhibition match was organized between a very young Mosconi, only six years old, and the World Champion of the time, Ralph Greenleaf. The room was packed, and though Greenleaf won that game, Mosconi played well enough to get Greenleaf’s attention.

 

 

In 1924, at the age of 11, Mosconi was the American youth billiards champion and regularly organized exhibitions where he showed very difficult shots (trick-shots), many invented by himself. In the early 1930s, around the time of the great economic depression, Mosconi took a short break from billiards, but returned a few years later hoping to make it big and make a living as a professional.

 

Upon his return, Mosconi entered numerous state tournaments, which according to his autobiography, Willie’s Game, he won in all of them. Shortly thereafter, Mosconi was earning a living as a professional billiards player.

 

Willie Mosconi’s success 

In 1933, Mosconi competed in the 14.1 (Straight Pool) World Championship organized by the Billiards Congress of America (BCA). He came close to winning the title but lost in the final to Erwin Rudolph. His performance attracted the attention of the president of the prestigious Brunswick Corporation, who immediately hired the young phenomenon. That same year, Mosconi embarked on a hectic exhibition tour across the country to promote Brunswick products. Mosconi was joined by his idol and then world champion Ralph Greenleaf, who was at the top of his game. In the end, the score was 57 wins for Greenleaf and close to 50 for Mosconi.

 

From 1940 to 1941, the best American pool halls sponsored a series of round robin tournaments, with eight invited players. Mosconi was sponsored by a salon in New York City called McGirr’s. He dominated this series and on five occasions pocketed 125 balls without fail when only two other players in history had done the same before.

 

In 1944, Mosconi enlisted in the United States Army, after working for several years in the defense industry. When World War II ended, he returned to a successful tournament career and renewed his affiliation with the all-powerful Brunswick Corporation.

Mosconi set the world record by pocketing 526 consecutive balls without missing during a billiards exhibition in Springfield, Ohio, on March 19th-20th, 1954, a record that seemed eternal for six decades. A handwritten and notarized affidavit with the signatures of more than 35 eyewitnesses exists as proof of this feat.

After suffering a brain-stroke in 1956, Mosconi reduced the frequency of his tournament appearances in order to recover. He returned to the game 100% in 1957, when he again won the World Championship.

 

Mosconi: adviser and instructor 

Mosconi retired from tournament play in 1966, but remained active in promoting the game. He consulted for and appeared in several billiards-related movies, made appearances on game shows, and wrote many articles about billiards, as well as co-authored a few books.

 

Mosconi was the technical adviser on the 1961 film The Hustler, starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. The film played an important role in the rise of the popularity of billiards. Mosconi’s job was to teach Newman to walk, talk and play like a real professional pool player. Mosconi appeared in the film as himself, as he would later do in the 1980s film The Baltimore Bullet.

 

 

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Mosconi made several television appearances participating in challenge matches with other legends such as Jimmy Caras, Luther Lassiter, Irving Crane, Joe Balsis, and Rudolf Wanderone. Many of these matchups were broadcast on ABC and the fledgling ESPN.

 

In 1968, at the age of 55, Mosconi was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame.

 

In 1994, a year after his death, the Mosconi Cup was founded in his honor, an annual pocket billiards competition between the best american and european players. The event has been held every year since then, it is the equivalent of the Ryder Cup of Golf.

 

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