"Mr Pocket Billiards" Willie Mosconi Signed 3X5 Card COA

Description: Up for auction "Mr Pocket Billiards" Willie Mosconi Hand Signed 3X5 Card. This item is authenticated By Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their certificate of authenticity. ES-7686E William Joseph Mosconi (/mɒˈskoʊni/; June 27, 1913 – September 17, 1993) was an American professional pool player from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Between the years of 1941 and 1957, he won the World Straight Pool Championship nineteen times. For most of the 20th century, his name was essentially synonymous with pool in North America – he was nicknamed "Mr. Pocket Billiards" – and he was among the first Billiard Congress of America Hall of Fame inductees. Mosconi pioneered and regularly employed numerous trick shots, set many records, and helped to popularize pool as a national recreation activity. During the 1940s and 1950s, the pocket billiards game most often played in competition was called straight pool, or 14.1 continuous, a form of pool considered by most top players to be more difficult than today's fast tournament game nine-ball. Mosconi set the officially-recognized straight pool high run world record of 526 consecutive balls in 1954. Mosconi's family lived above a pool hall William's father, Joseph Mosconi, owned. Despite that, Joseph was strongly opposed to his son playing pocket billiards, preferring he become a Vaudeville performer. He tried to keeping his young son away from the game by hiding the billiard balls, but Willie improvised by practicing with an old broomstick and small potatoes from his mother's kitchen. The young Mosconi was a prodigy and his father soon realized that he could use his son's talent to help earn money for their growing family. Joseph Mosconi began advertising challenge matches, and though Willie had to stand on a box in order to reach the table, he beat experienced players many years his senior. In 1919, an exhibition match was arranged between six-year-old Mosconi and the reigning World Champion, Ralph Greenleaf. The hall was packed, and though Greenleaf won that match, Mosconi played well enough to draw considerable attention and launch his professional career. In 1924, at the age of 11, Mosconi was the juvenile straight pool champion and was regularly holding trick shot exhibitions. By the early 1930s, Mosconi had taken a brief hiatus from the game, but returned a few years later in the hopes of earning some money. Upon his return, Mosconi entered one local tournament after another and according to his autobiography, "Willie's Game",he won them all. After a short while, Mosconi was making a living as a professional pool player. Willie claimed he never hustled anyone, beating everyone honestly: "I played everyone straight". In 1933, Mosconi competed in the Billiard Congress of America (BCA) World Straight Pool Championship. He nearly won the title but lost in the final to Erwin Rudolph. His performance garnered the attention of the president of Brunswick Corporation who immediately hired the young phenom. That same year, Mosconi embarked on a hectic cross-country exhibition tour promoting 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 scoreline read 57 wins for Greenleaf and a close 50 for the 20-year-old Mosconi. From 1940 to 1941, a round-robin tournament series was sponsored by billiard halls, with eight invitational players. Mosconi was sponsored by a hall in New York City called McGirr's. He dominated this series, and ran 125 balls from the break five times when only two other players in history had ever done the same.[ In 1944, Mosconi enlisted in the United States Army, having already spent several years working within the defense industry. When World War II ended, he returned to a successful tournament career and renewed his affiliation with Brunswick. After suffering a stroke in 1956, Mosconi slowed down on his tournament appearances in order to recover.[6] He returned to the game at nearly 100% by 1957, when he once again won the BCA World Championship. Mosconi retired from tournament play in 1966 but remained active in promoting the game. He consulted and appeared in several movies dealing with billiards, made game show appearances and wrote many articles on billiards, as well as co-authored some books. A feud with pool hustler Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone (concocted mainly by Wanderone himself) kept Mosconi in the spotlight well into the 1970s and 1980s.

Price: 69.99 USD

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

End Time: 2025-01-05T16:33:13.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD