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Keith McCready

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Keith McCready
McCready at International Pool Tour King of the Hill event December 2005
Personal information
Birth nameKeith Howard McCready
Nickname"Earthquake"
Born (1957-04-09) April 9, 1957 (age 67)
Elmhurst, Illinois
Occupation(s)Pocket billiards player, actor, columnist
Life partnerJennie Ann (2002–present)
Sport
Country United States
SportPocket Billiards

Keith McCready (born April 9, 1957) is an American professional pool player who played under the nickname "Earthquake". At one time considered among the top players in America, McCready has been a traveling tournament competitor and notorious hustler since the 1970s. Known for comedically interacting with the audience during matches, McCready was also a contributing writer for InsidePool magazine between 2003 and 2006. He also had a supporting role as the hustler Grady Seasons in the 1986 film The Color of Money.

An energetic and aggressive player, he has a distinctive side-arm stroke and, despite his unusual form, is well known for strong shot-making offense skills, often executing extremely difficult shots that most other players would not attempt. In 2017, Keith McCready was given the Lifetime of Pool in Action Award at the One Pocket Hall of Fame banquet.

Personal life

Side-arm stroke of Keith McCready

McCready was born on April 9, 1957, in Elmhurst, Illinois, later moving to Anaheim, California, with his brother and father.[1] He initially had to stand on a box to reach the height of the table, and developed his unusual "sidewinder" stroke while still a boy.[1] He was reportedly habituated to gambling by his divorced father when, during custodial visits, Keith and his brothers would each be given $20 and required to play various games with him, "usually until he had won his money back".[2][3]

Keith McCready first place and Allen Hopkins second place at the Joss Northeast Nine-Ball Tour tournament in 2004.[4]

An established gambler at a young age, McCready had won a large amount gambling the night before at the horse racetrack. He was afraid to leave the money at home, for fear that his two older brothers would help themselves to it, and he did not want to leave it in his school locker for the same reason. When his teacher saw that it was the sum of $14,000 in gambling winnings, McCready was suspended from school "for having too much money".[5][6] Danny Diliberto was living in Bellflower, California, during this time. He learned about the incident when he asked why young McCready was hanging in the pool room instead of attending school.[6][5] The school officials contacted the California Department of Social Services to investigate his home environment, which had deteriorated after the death of his mother. His father had developed problems with alcoholism. Placed in foster care, Keith was removed from his family home and made a ward of the state. The owner of his neighborhood pool room, Bob's Billiards, liked McCready and successfully petitioned to adopt him.[7]

As a teenager in California, McCready was mentored by Cole Dixon, an older California player who showed McCready how to survive as a pool player, and inspired Rudolf Wanderone, whom he had met as an adolescent.[8][9][full citation needed] McCready was considered an old-school player who was fast and accurate at the table, acquiring the nickname "Keither with the Ether".[10] However, he was later given the nickname "Earthquake".[11][12][13] Today, McCready resides in Washington, DC. He was inducted into the One Pocket Hall of Fame in January 2018 for a "Lifetime of Pool in Action".[14][1]

In the late 2000s, McCready became a columnist for InsidePool magazine.[15]

Professional career

McCready holding a cue in front of a pool table
McCready at the Super Billiards Expo at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in 2004.

When McCready was 21, he began competing at professional pool events throughout California. He made an impression in the final of the Sacramento Open; from 2–6 behind, he won the last nine racks of nine-ball in the final to defeat Larry Hubbart, 11–6.[16] McCready won the 1984 Clyde Childress Memorial 9-Ball Open at The Maverick Club in Richmond, Kentucky; having defeated Earl Strickland 11–2 earlier in the event, McCready again defeated Strickland in the final, 11–9.[17] By June 1985, he was already considered among the top players in the country.[18]

Poster for a pool competition
Poster with McCready's face at 2005 Joss Northeast 9-Ball Tour in Albany, New York.

McCready scored his first professional win in October 1985 at the B.C. Open 9-ball Championship in Binghamton, New York. Pool veteran player Grady Mathews commented that he was "a worthy champion and a colorful, exciting player, he deserved to win".[19] He won the final 9-3 despite playing the tournament with a borrowed cue stick.[20] At the 5th Sands Regent Open nine-ball tournament, held in June 1987 in Reno, Nevada, and won by Strickland, McCready was documented in the notable matches category by Accu-Stats because of his "brilliant and entertaining" performance, defeating Paul Brienza and Mike Sigel in the event.[21]

two people stood next to each other
McCready with Josh Dickerson

In April 2005, he won a Joss Northeast Nine-ball Tour event at the Golden Cue in Albany, New York, winning the final match of the double-elimination format event against Canadian pool player Danny Hewitt.[22][23]

In December 1998, he was ranked 10th on the men's professional pool tour.[24] While McCready won a few titles during his career, he was known for high-wager matches.[24] Danny DiLiberto (now an Accu-Stats Video Productions commentator) has stated: "I like Keith McCready, he's entertaining all the time; he's colorful to watch, because he's going to shoot at a white flag. He doesn't play the score; he could be winning 7 to 1 and he's still going to shoot at a crazy shot that he could lose with. But he's a colorful person, so I like doing commentary on him."[25] McCready continued to compete professionally as well as putting on exhibitions for charity events as late as 2005, winning the 2005 Virginia State Nine-Ball Championship title.[26]

Filmography

In 1986, McCready played as the character Grady Seasons, a fictional infamous, sharking hustler and top money-winner in all of pool, with Paul Newman and Tom Cruise in Martin Scorsese's Academy Award-winning film The Color of Money.[27] In 1985, Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, and Scorsese's casting director, Gretchen Rennell, had come to Norfolk, Virginia, to the US Open Nine-ball Championship in search of actual pool personalities to play character roles. McCready was engaged in a stakes game with Efren Reyes and was selected to be in the movie because of his entertaining style of play.[28] McCready had an established reputation in pool circles as one of the most feared money players.[29]

Career titles and achievements

  • 1979 Sacramento 9-Ball Open
  • 1983 King of the Hill
  • 1984 Clyde Childress Memorial 9-Ball Open
  • 1985 B.C. Open 9-ball Championship
  • 1987 Southern California 9-Ball Open
  • 1991 Lexington All-Star 9-Ball
  • 2005 Virginia State 9-Ball Championship
  • 2017 Lifetime Pool in Action Award

References

  1. ^ a b c "Keith McCready". onepocket.org. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  2. ^ Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (January 11, 1996). "Books of the Times: On the Road with a Hustler of an Elegant Game". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
  3. ^ McCumber, David (1996). Playing off the Rail: A Pool Hustler's Journey. Random House. p. 263. ISBN 0679423745.
  4. ^ "McCready Over Hopkins for Drexel Hill Joss Win". AZBilliards.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved December 10, 2011.
  5. ^ a b Forsyth, Jerry (2005). Road Player: The Danny Diliberto Story. Bebob. ISBN 9781887956260.
  6. ^ a b "Rack'em up with Danny DiLiberto". Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  7. ^ "Keith McCready". Onepocket.org. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  8. ^ "Fatty". InsidePOOL. April 2006.
  9. ^ "Radio Episode No. 50", AZBilliards.com. Retrieved November 10, 2012.
  10. ^ "MathewsInterview". OnePocket.org. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  11. ^ "Earthquake repeats in Sterling VA". AZBilliards.com. March 10, 2003. Archived from the original on August 1, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  12. ^ "Pearl vs Earthquake in Classic Joss Finals". AZBilliards.com. March 30, 2003. Archived from the original on May 18, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  13. ^ "Earthquake Rocks US Open". AZBilliards.com. September 20, 2003. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  14. ^ "Keith McCready Lifetime Pool in Action". OnePocket.org. Archived from the original on September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
  15. ^ "Keith McCready writes...". InsidePool. No. May 2006. pp. 3–5.
  16. ^ Venzke, Bruce (June 1980). "Pot Shots". The National Billiard News. p. 17.
  17. ^ "Mind Games". InsidePool. No. December 2005.
  18. ^ Bykofsky, Stuart D. (June 17, 1985). "The breaks of the game in pro pool". Philadelphia Daily News. pp. 31, 34. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "McCready Has Hot Stick at B.C.". The National Billiard News. October 1985. p. 12.
  20. ^ Bernstein, Viv (September 3, 1985). "9-ball champ is unyielding". Press and Sun-Bulletin. Binghamton, New York. p. 7-B. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Notable Matches". Accu-Stats. Vol. 3. July 1987.
  22. ^ "McCready Holds Hewitt Off for Joss Tour Win". AZBilliards.com. April 17, 2005. Archived from the original on November 10, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  23. ^ "Player Information". TotalPool.info. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved June 18, 2007.
  24. ^ a b Capelle, Phil. "Keith McCready, Rebirth of a Legend". Billiards Press. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2007.
  25. ^ "Danny Diliberto Interview". Onepocket.org. Archived from the original on July 25, 2017. Retrieved May 13, 2007.
  26. ^ "2005 Virginia State Nine-Ball Championship" (PDF). Virginia Pool. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  27. ^ "Critic's Pick". The New York Times. October 1986.
  28. ^ "Split the Wicket". InsidePool. December 2003.
  29. ^ Dyer, R. A. (May 7, 2010). "Billiards History: Keith McCready, Jay Helfert and Pool Wars". Untold Stories Billiards. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved December 11, 2011.
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