Untold Stories: Mosconi Made World Debut by Weird Fluke

Greenleaf, right, bombed out of the 1933 event once Prohibition ended.

On Dec. 11, referee Ferguson called a forfeiture on the sleek-haired Greenleaf because of his aggressive, incessant and annoying needling of Jimmy Caras. Bartlett wrote that for much of the afternoon the "magpie fire had been audible only to the journalists fortunate enough to be seated in Ralph's corner." Who knows what he was ranting about - but by the 12th inning Ferguson decided to put it to an end. This, according to an account by the Chicago Daily News: "The game had gone twelve innings with Caras leading 52-8 when Joseph Ferguson of New York, official referee, acting on the advice of Clyde A. Storer, president of the National Billiard Association, forfeited the game to Caras on account of conduct unbecoming a gentleman on the part of Greenleaf.

"Greenleaf was disqualified after insistently claiming a foul. He claimed Caras had shoved, rather than shot, the cue ball in making a point. Ferguson ruled otherwise, but the defending champion continued to argue.

"He had been warned previously for talking while his opponent was shooting and Ferguson forfeited the match to Caras when Greenleaf refused to drop his complaint."

Mosconi, by contrast, dazzled spectators and journalists alike. He may have started the 1933 world title as an unknown, an underdog and a long-shot - but then, somehow, he transformed himself into something altogether different. Journalists began referring to him as a "young sensation" or even "future world champion." On Dec. 6, he won his first match, slaughtering Bennie Allen of Kansas City, 125-81. In the second inning he ran 64, which stood as the high run for much of the tournament. On Dec. 8, Willie beat Frank Taberski, 125-15. The inexorable snail lost the lag, then sat back and watched unhappily as the young Philadelphian ran 21 in the ninth, then 26 in the 13th. On Dec. 12, Willie beat Caras, 125-95, in 25 innings. He also delivered the coup-de-grace to Greenleaf himself, beating him, 125-55, on Dec. 18. It was Greenleaf's last tournament match that year.

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