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Joe Balsis

{{short description|American pool player, born 1921}}

{{Infobox pool player

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| birth_date = {{Birth date text|1921}}

| birth_place = Minersville, Pennsylvania, U.S

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1995|01|02|1921}}

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| sport country = {{USA}}

| nickname = "The Meatman"

| professional = 1964

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| world champ = Straight Pool (1965, 1965, 1966)

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Joseph (Joe) Balsis (born 1921, Minersville, Pennsylvania, died January 2, 1995, Minersville{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16155826/joseph-f-balsis-obituary/|agency=Associated Press|title=Pool Champion Joe Balsis Dies|work=Standard-Speaker|date=January 5, 1995|page=2}}), nicknamed "the Meatman", was an American professional pool player, who was inducted into the Billiard Congress of America's Hall of Fame in 1982.[http://www.bca-pool.com/industry/hof/ind77-84.shtml "Hall of Fame Inductees, 1977-84"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019205338/http://www.bca-pool.com/industry/hof/ind77-84.shtml |date=2006-10-19 }}, Billiard Congress of America, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA; accessed February 2, 2007

Career

=Early life=

Joe grew up playing in the billiard room of his father, John, whose business was in the sale of meat. At an early, Balsis was deemed skilled enough by age 11 to play exhibition matches against professional players including Andrew Ponzi and Erwin Rudolph.{{Cite web |title=The Frail Gray Man with the Strong Pool Cue |author= |work=Vault |date= |access-date=29 June 2019 |url= https://www.si.com/vault/1969/10/13/617915/the-frail-gray-man-with-the-strong-pool-cue |quote=}}{{Cite web |title=Pool's Joe "Meatman" Balsis in HOF 1982 - Pool & Billiard Magazine |work=Pool & Billiard Magazine |access-date=29 June 2019 |url=http://poolmag.com/pools-joe-meatman-balsis-in-hof-1982/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620094524/http://poolmag.com/pools-joe-meatman-balsis-in-hof-1982/ |archive-date=20 June 2019 |url-status=live }} When in his teens, he won four consecutive annual junior titles, then left the game and joined the Coast Guard as a boat machinist for several years during pool's temporary decline. In 1944, he took up competition again, winning the Armed Services Champion title.

=Professional career=

Balsis rejoined the game in 1964 Balsis, where he began to compete professionally. The following year, he won the World Straight Pool Championship twice and once in 1966. He won the Johnston City All-Around Championship, in 1966. Balsis would then win back-to-back titles at both the 1968 and 1969 Stardust Open All-Around Championship as well as the All Japan Championship in 1969. Between 1966 and 1975 Balsis reached the final of the BCA U.S. Open Straight Pool Championship on five occasions, where he would win twice (1968 & 1974).

Titles

References

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Category:American pool players

Category:1921 births

Category:1995 deaths

Category:People from Minersville, Pennsylvania

Category:Sportspeople from Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

Category:Straight pool world champions

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