The BCA billiard hall of fame was founded in 1966 as a way
to honor outstanding billiard players as well as people who
have made remarkable contributions to the game of billiard.
Up until today, 50 people have been induced to the billiard
hall of fame, most of them in the Greatest Player
category.
20 times World Pocket Billiard Champion Ralph Greenleaf
was one of the first billiard hall of fame inductees.
The straight pool champion had also set records for high
single-game average and high grand average, 63 and 11.02
respectively. Greenleaf was one of the most colorful figures
in the professional billiards world of the 1920s and 1930s
and his pool matches have been attracting lots of
spectators. Greenleaf died in 1950 of a heart attack at the
age of 50.
William Frederick Hoppe, aka Willie Hoppe, was also
induced to the billiard hall of fame in 1966. The American
Balkline Billiards champion won more than 50 world titles
between 1906 and 1952 in 18.1 and 18.12 balkline and in the carom billiard game
three cushion . Hoppe had learned to play
billiard as a 5 years old kid and won his first 18.1
Balkline Championship while he was only 18 years old. He set
several records including run of 622 in 18.2 balkline, runs
of 20 points in three cushion game and a tournament average
of 1.33, which haven't been broken until today.
Willie Mosconi aka Mr. Pocket Billiards was induced
to the billiard hall of fame in 1968. He is still considered
as the best pool player in history. He won 15 BCA World
Championships in the time between 1941 and 1957, mostly in
straight pool competitions. He is also the holder of the
amazing record of 526 high run, in which he had run 526
successive balls without a miss on a pool exhibition that
took place in 1954. Mosconi was technical advisor of the
famous billiard movie The Hustler. The Mosconi Cup,
competition between American and European pool players that
take place every year was launched in his honor.
John Wesley Hyatt was induced to the billiard hall of
fame in 1972 in the Meritorious Service category. The
American inventor who is responsible for several inventions
and patents including a knife grinder and a method producing
celluloid, made an important contribution to the billiard
world by inventing the composition billiard balls. The
billiard balls, which are composed of a substitute for
ivory, are still commonly used in billiard and pool games
all over the world.
Steve Mizerak aka The Miz was a world champion
straight pool player and the owner of several billiards
halls. The Miz is mostly known outside the professional pool
circle for his performance at a Miller Lite beer commercial.
He had also play a small part in the 1986 billiard film The
Color of Money. In 1996, The Miz had launched the Senior
Tour, which included pool tournaments for pool players who
have passed the age of 50. The Miz continued to play pool
until the 2000s when he begun suffering from physical
disabilities as a result of a stroke.
Rudolph Wanderone Jr. aka Minnesota Fats is probably
the most famous pool player in the world and definitely the
most famous pool player who has never won a serious pool
competition. Minnesota Fats had begun pool hustling at an
early age. With the help of another billiard hall of fame
inductee, Willie Mosconi, Minnesota Fats became the star of
a weekly TV show, in which the two pool players used to
compete against each other in front of the TV audience.
Losing constantly to Mosconi on these TV pool matches
haven't stop Minnesota Fats from becoming a pool legend and
a billiard hall of fame inductee in 1984.
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