Untold Stories: Mosconi Made World Debut by Weird Fluke

Rudolph hung on for first place, while four others tied for second.

But as it turned out, the key match for Willie happened much earlier, before the tournament was really underway. He didn't then realize the importance of it; he didn't realize what happened until much later - but had it turned out differently, it could have been one of the most significant matches in pocket billiards history. And it came down to one ball, one damn ball, the most important missed ball of Willie Mosconi's fledgling career.

Here's another eyewitness account, again from the Chicago Daily Tribune's Bartlett. The headline was "Rudolf Runs 42 to Snatch Cue Victory: Rally beats Mosconi, 125-124." The story appeared on the front of the sports section on Dec. 6, 1933. "A yellow-hued billiard ball with the numeral 1 stamped upon it lay within a foot of one of the leather-shouldered pockets of the playing table of the 131 South Wabash Avenue recreation room yesterday afternoon.

"Five feet down the rail gleamed a cue ball. It appeared to be a simple matter for one so talented as Willie Mosconi of Philadelphia to propel the white sphere against the yellow cousin and send No. 1 into the pocket. This movement would bring a 125-83 victory over Erwin Rudolf of Cleveland in the second game of the 1933 world's pocket billiards championship tournament.

"The customers in attendance wriggled quietly into their overcoats and prepared to leave as Mosconi applied a final dab of chalk to the end of his cue. Rudolf, who had trailed throughout the game, was apparently ready to call it a lost afternoon and congratulate young Mosconi on a handsome debute to big time billiards." But, but, Bartlett continued, the ball refused to fall.

"Then something happened. Maybe it was Willie's cue. Maybe it was the eternal perversity of billiard balls. Whatever it was, the lemon colored No. 1 ball, after having received its impetus from the cue ball, struck both corners of the pocket and then trickled back onto the cloth of the table.

"Mosconi stared at the little globule and then sat down, content, as was nearly everybody else in the house, that Rudolf couldn't hope to run 42 balls for victory. Then 37-year-old former Chicagoan who won the world championship in 1930 thought otherwise, however, and did just that - ran the required 42 to win, 125 to 124 in 16 innings."

Had Willie sunk the 1 ball during his second match of the 1933 tournament - had he won that game - he would have had a 7-2 record at the conclusion of the regular matches that year. Instead the world event ended up in a four-way tie between Mosconi, Ponzi, Caras and Kelly - all of whom finished with records of 6-3 - and then Willie came in fourth, out of the money.

"Willie admitted that he was a young, cocky kid," pool historian Charles Ursitti said of that errant one-ball. "He fired that ball - he never forgets it his whole life - he fires the 1 in the upper right-hand pocket, and it jaws. Rudolf bolts out of his chair and runs 42 and out.

"That game could have meant that Willie would have been the first player to win the title in his first attempt. He would have been the youngest player ever; he would have been younger than Greenleaf when he won the first title. There are so many things hinging on that one ball, so many, and Willie never forgot it. Even the great Ralph Greenleaf didn't win on his first attempt."

R.A. Dyer is the author of "Hustler Days: Minnesota Fats, Wimpy Lassiter, Jersey Red, and America's Great Age of Pool," which is new out in paperback. For more info, go to the Untold Stories Web site, at www.hustlerdays.com.

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