Weenie Beenie: A Classy Pool Player

Alfie Taylor said:

Bill "Weenie Beanie" Staton and I became best friends in his later years. Along with our wives, we traveled to the Yucatan, Greece and Turkey, Japan and other places together. We found casinos in every country and I watched him catch a blackjack dealer on the cruise ship cheating. He told me a lot of his pool stories but the figures didn't jump so high. Who knows? Maybe he forgot or didn't want to tell me, but I doubt it.
What I have to add to this pool lore was he was the nicest gentleman I ever knew. All of his family are my close friends and they all adored him. I miss my pal every day.
Keep it respectful. Alfie

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Strange thing Alfie..During the years you and I were kinda out of touch, the 'Bean' used to come to Scottsdale, with his wife, for extended visits.. (90's to early 2000's) We were long time aquaintence's, and he'd come down to the Cue, and we'd often match up and bang 'em around a little..(as you know we both liked to play )..I think you may have been in Colo. or Tucson, in those years..but its funny, your name never came up, as a mutual friend of us both..If it had, we may have been re-united many years sooner..He was also one of my favorite people in pool..

SJDinPHX said:

Strange thing Alfie..During the years you and I were kinda out of touch, the 'Bean' used to come to Scottsdale, with his wife, for extended visits.. (90's to early 2000's) We were long time aquaintence's, and he'd come down to the Cue, and we'd often match up and bang 'em around a little..(as you know we both liked to play )..I think you may have been in Colo. or Tucson, in those years..but its funny, your name never came up, as a mutual friend of us both..If it had, we may have been re-united many years sooner..He was also one of my favorite people in pool..

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RICHARD, MY GOOD BUDDY. IT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE YOU DOUBT ME.

Or, perhaps that was because you were hanging around him years before he and I became close. He and I did talk about you and he held you in high esteem, both as a player and a man.
But, I didn't see you at his funeral, did I? What I did see was during the twenty or thirty minute ride to the cemetery was at every red light were four policemen standing with their hats off. almost all different cops. I wondered who was guarding the rest of Myrtle Beach.
Mr Staton was a class act on or off the table. I, for sure, will never forget him.
Keep it nice. Alfie

Alfie Taylor said:

...What I did see was during the twenty or thirty minute ride to the cemetery was at every red light were four policemen standing with their hats off. almost all different cops. I wondered who was guarding the rest of Myrtle Beach.
Mr Staton was a class act on or off the table. I, for sure, will never forget him.
Keep it nice. Alfie

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Wow! That is pretty cool to have law enforcement pay tribute to Weenie Beenie. I love learning this little tidbit of the historical record of Weenie Beenie.

Here's a pretty cool pool read by R.A. Dyer on Billiards Digest of Weenie Beenie for anyone who hasn't seen it: Weenie Beenie: A Filet in a Hot Dog World.

Here's a highlight of the above-referenced link: "I became seriously interested in pool when I first lost money at it," he explained. "I started playing anybody. That was 1952, 1953 - and it didn't make any difference who it was. I'd play people I didn't know. I would walk into poolrooms, and they would service my account. They were hustlers, and they would come from all over the country. I got to know most of the big players; players who had no way of making a living back in the 1950s. …

"But I was very fortunate I did not have to depend on pool to make a living. I was able to be a businessman-player. I had some little hot-dog stands - I had six at one time - and I had a truck stop, and I had two poolrooms."

Last time I was in Arlington, VA, this hot dog stand was still intact. Open at 6 a.m. for breakfast.

Alfie Taylor said:

RICHARD, MY GOOD BUDDY. IT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE YOU DOUBT ME.<--That'll never happen !

Or, perhaps that was because you were hanging around him years before he and I became close. He and I did talk about you and he held you in high esteem, both as a player and a man.
But, I didn't see you at his funeral, did I? What I did see was during the twenty or thirty minute ride to the cemetery was at every red light were four policemen standing with their hats off. almost all different cops. I wondered who was guarding the rest of Myrtle Beach.
Mr Staton was a class act on or off the table. I, for sure, will never forget him.
Keep it nice. Alfie

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I do remember, (when we re-united) being very envious of the world travels you enjoyed with him. Really great that you got to do that !..As for his passing, that was B.C. (Before Computers) for me... I did not even hear he was gone 'til well after the fact...Might have found a way to attend his funeral, had I known..Would have been a surprise, running into you there.

PS..Gweenie Beenie, did a lengthy interview with me, (about her Dad) at the DCC in '09...She interviewed just about everyone, he ever knew...She was was going to put something together, a memorium of sort's..Hows that coming ?

SJDinPHX said:

Strange thing Alfie..During the years you and I were kinda out of touch, the 'Bean' used to come to Scottsdale, with his wife, for extended visits.. (90's to early 2000's) We were long time aquaintence's, and he'd come down to the Cue, and we'd often match up and bang 'em around a little..(as you know we both liked to play )..I think you may have been in Colo. or Tucson, in those years..but its funny, your name never came up, as a mutual friend of us both..If it had, we may have been re-united many years sooner..He was also one of my favorite people in pool..

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Alfie Taylor said:

RICHARD, MY GOOD BUDDY. IT ALMOST SOUNDS LIKE YOU DOUBT ME.

Or, perhaps that was because you were hanging around him years before he and I became close. He and I did talk about you and he held you in high esteem, both as a player and a man.
But, I didn't see you at his funeral, did I? What I did see was during the twenty or thirty minute ride to the cemetery was at every red light were four policemen standing with their hats off. almost all different cops. I wondered who was guarding the rest of Myrtle Beach.
Mr Staton was a class act on or off the table. I, for sure, will never forget him.
Keep it nice. Alfie

Click to expand...

SJDinPHX said:

I do remember, (when we re-united) being very envious of the world travels you enjoyed with him. Really great that you got to do that !..As for his passing, that was B.C. (Before Computers) for me... I did not even hear he was gone 'til well after the fact...Might have found a way to attend his funeral, had I known..Would have been a surprise, running into you there.

PS..Gweenie Beenie, did a lengthy interview with me, (about her Dad) at the DCC in '09...She interviewed just about everyone, he ever knew...She was was going to put something together, a memorium of sort's..Hows that coming ?

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Hey Ducky, remember what Yogi Berra said:

Yogi Berra said:

Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours.

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I guess you f@@ked that up I know how much you cared for Beano.

RBL

Cowboy Dennis said:

Hey Ducky, remember what Yogi Berra said:

I guess you f@@ked that up I know how much you cared for Beano.

RBL

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Compared to you,...Yogi was/is, an Einstein ! (and MUCH better looking)

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SJDinPHX said:

Compared to you,...Yogi was/is, an Einstein ! (and MUCH better looking)

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I guess it's fair to assume that you subscribe to Yogi's theory on theories?

Yogi Berra said:

In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

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RBL

fred bentivegna said:

When asked "What was your best game?" Beenie replied, My best game was one pocket. I learned from a guy named FITZPATRICK. They called him "BUGS," and he was one of the greatest. He died in 1960.....


Beard

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Fred, I believe he meant "Rags" vs Leonard "Bugs" Rucker.

As a sidenote, Fitzpatrick and Buddy Hall were both called "Rags" at one time. Buddy didn't care for that name and prefered "The Rifleman", which does sound more "intimidating", doesn't it?

Originally Posted by Yogi Berra
In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.

To me, the author of this does sound like a genius. Could you say it any better?

Terry Ardeno said:

Fred, I believe he meant "Rags" vs Leonard "Bugs" Rucker.

As a sidenote, Fitzpatrick and Buddy Hall were both called "Rags" at one time. Buddy didn't care for that name and prefered "The Rifleman", which does sound more "intimidating", doesn't it?

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Definitely 'Rags' Fitzpatrick not 'Bugs'. Beenie mentioned that when I interviewed him (which is on here for anyone who has not already read it:
http://www.onepocket.org/StatonInterview.htm)

NH Steve said:

Definitely 'Rags' Fitzpatrick not 'Bugs'. Beenie mentioned that when I interviewed him (which is on here for anyone who has not already read it:
http://www.onepocket.org/StatonInterview.htm)

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Steve, thank you so much for all the interviews you've done! I've made copies of them and have a notebook with them that I look thru pretty often.
I absolutely love reading interviews with the great players. Their true personality comes thru much better than when somebody pens a story about them in a magazine.

It'd be nice to try and get Ed Kelly to grant an interview. I've got most everything ever written about him, but there's still been no thorough interview with him, at least none that I'm aware of.

I'd love to read one of your type interviews with Nick Varner, who is in my opinion the greatest all-around American who ever played. He's won World Championships in 1P, 14.1, 9B, 8B and Banks! The magazines have over-looked him. I've called and written to Billiard Digest several times over the years asking them to do a feature story on Nick. So far, nothing.

Jimmy Fusco would be a great story. He's one of the nicest and most humble of the great players. He actually wrote me a letter after we met years ago at Valley Forge to thank me for wanting a photograph with him and for some of the things I've said about him. He has oodles of gambling stories. Whether he wants to share them or not, that's his choice. But he'd be a great story.

I've saved the two biggest "Please Steve, please try to get an interview with" pleas, Christmas wish-lists, begs, etc for Dr. William "Billy" Incardona and Shannon Daulton. Two of my all-time favorite players since pool was invented!

If there's any way possible for you to ever do these interviews, wow! What great additions they would be to preserving some of the history of the greatest players!

Again, sincerest 'Thanks!" for all you've done over the years to make this such a great site! It's very much appreciated!

Terry Ardeno said:

Fred, I believe he meant "Rags" vs Leonard "Bugs" Rucker.

As a sidenote, Fitzpatrick and Buddy Hall were both called "Rags" at one time. Buddy didn't care for that name and prefered "The Rifleman", which does sound more "intimidating", doesn't it?

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The mention of "Rags" that I found came from here. I wonder if they got it wrong.

JAM said:

In the January 1984 issue of National Tavern News, there's an 8-page article written by Bill Pierce entitled "WEENIE BEENIE: A Classy Pool Player."

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When asked "What was your best game?" Beenie replied, My best game was one pocket. I learned from a guy named FITZPATRICK. They called him "BUGS," and he was one of the greatest. He died in 1960, but I cut my teeth on guys like Earl Schriver, Rags, Eddie Taylor, and Squirrel. They were my teachers.

It could be that National Tavern News got it wrong.

JAM said:

The mention of "Rags" that I found came from here. I wonder if they got it wrong.

When asked "What was your best game?" Beenie replied, My best game was one pocket. I learned from a guy named FITZPATRICK. They called him "BUGS," and he was one of the greatest. He died in 1960, but I cut my teeth on guys like Earl Schriver, Rags, Eddie Taylor, and Squirrel. They were my teachers.

It could be that National Tavern News got it wrong.

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Jen,

I wasn't correcting you, just the mis-print from the article. As a felow historian, you know that I have high regard for you!

Have a great weekend!

wennie

wennie

I met wennie bennie around 2002 at the DCC, a real nice guy and pleasant person to be around.