My answer would be: "Maybe/No". But I agree that the issues should be separated. That is: #1. Does Wanderone's expertise at one-pocket qualify him for 1P HOF? #2. Did his promotion of one-pocket qualify him for 1P HOF? And #3. Was he in actual fact the "Minnesota Fats" character as portrayed by Tevis/Rossen in The Hustler?
#1. The consensus seems to be that “New York Fats” had always been a very good one-pocket player. Apparently there is no one alive today who can attest to his level of play from the 1930’s & 40’s (In what year did 1P come out of Oklahoma anyway?). The next time I see Squirrel, you can be sure that I’ll quiz him about Fats. George Rood would be another one to ask. Evidently most agree that he was 1-2 balls below the best one-pocket players.
You are a little late. I quizzed people about how Fats played in the
30s & 40s, 50 years ago. Plus, I have actually seen him play for $3-500 a game. George Rood was a great 9 ball and straight pool player and wasnt reknown for road trips. I have already discussed how straight pool players viewed 1 pkt players. In a "Fats in Chicago" thread I related how Fats played Pony Rosen in Bensingers, spotting him 8 to 7. Here are some more stories out of the Pony/Bensinger archives. For a big money bet I could probably dig out another old man or two like me, who can verify these tales.
For that "1-2 balls under" thing, dont include me in that over reaching, "most agree," declaration. Here are some other points of reference. As a young kid in Bensingers I sucked up all the old lore regarding the joints glorious past. Here are three more big money matches that occurred at Bensingers on 29 W Randolph st. In the 40s Pony played and beat Eddie Taylor on a 4 1/2 by 9 getting only 8 to 7! Most of the sweators thought Pony outran the nuts. Pony also played Rags Fitzpatrick in the 40s. Rags won a bushel of money when he played Pony 8 to 7 and the break (4 1/2 x 9), and robbed him. Most of the sweators thought that Rags outran the nuts. In the 30s, the great, unknown to most, Tommy the Greek (who later moved to 4th and Main in LA) played Pony 8 to 6. In the 60s, a 69 year old Tommy the Greek played Eddie Taylor to a $100 a game, 24 hr draw at 4th and Main.
About a year or so before the first Johnston City, Pony played and beat Weenie Beanie at Bensingers. For a memory refresher, Pony is the player that dropped dead shooting at the game ball against Artie.
#2. There is evidence that Wanderone, along with Hubert Cokes, Marshall Carpenter, and others influenced the Jansco’s to include one-pocket in their new Johnston City tournaments.
The Jansco's didnt "include" one pocket in their new Johnston City tourn. It was the ONLY game the first yr of the tourn, due to Fat's influence. What game would anyone assume Fats would make the Janscos use? It was the first one pocket tourn ever. Can we call that a coincidence? Fats lived in Dowell, IL. About 25 miles away from JC. What got "included" was straight pool and nine ball, in their next tourns.
But from the time Wanderone assumed and capitalized on the “Minnesota Fats” persona following the release of the movie The Hustler in 1961, it’s questionable whether he promoted the game of 1P. He obviously promoted himself, and to a lesser extent pool in general. As a result of his incessant self-promotion, braggadocio, and the resultant media coverage and popularity, the sport of pocket billiards was benefitted commercially. For that reason he was a shoo-in for the BCA HOF. But what can one point to that RW did to specifically promote the game of one-pocket?
Didnt he play it on his two TV shows? Was there some other time in early TV history that anybody got to watch a One pocket game? The rules had to be explained by the narrator, Joe Wilson.
#3. There are a few on this site who apparently believe that the Minnesota Fats character in Tevis’ short stories and book written in the mid 1950’s, along with the Tevis/Rossen movie treatment of The Hustler written in 1959, was based upon Rudolph Wanderone, aka New York Fats. There is no evidence of that, except hearsay. There is no real resemblance of the fictional Minnesota Fats character to Rudolph Wanderone. Both Tevis and his wife vehemently and steadfastly denied from the beginning, and even following Tevis’ death, that the Minnesota Fats character was based on any real human. And that the character of Minnesota Fats was pure literary fiction.
I have made some very salient points that no one has as yet been able to answer rationally (IMO), re real resemblances to the Minnesota character, enough to question the definite quality of your statement, "no real resemblance." I could have let it go if you had ended that with, "In my opinion," instead of a debate proof declaration similar to Al Gore's position on Global Warming. The denials of the victims of a libel suit and an ongoing attack on the Tevis literary ego, is really not much of an argument. If denials were valid, we could dispense with the justice system and just take everybodys word for it. Believe me Doc, there is much more pure justification for me to tell you the truth than them.
Whether or not one believes that RW heisted the character of Minnesota Fats really has no bearing on his consideration for the 1P HOF. And he really didn’t promote one-pocket in specific to the public. So it comes down to his excellence as a player. If he reportedly played 1-2 balls under the better players, that’s not a good enough qualification for HOF. Perhaps the best fit for Fats would be in the “Lifetime Pool in Action” category, along with Denny Searcy, George Rood, Jimmy Reid, and “Flyboy” Spears. That might satisfy RW’s friends as well as his foes.
Doc