GREENLEAF, RALPH

born c. 1899, , Monmouth, Ill., U.S. died March 15, 1950, Philadelphia, Pa. world champion U.S. pocket-billiards (pool) player from 1919 through 1924 and intermittently from 1926 to 1937. His great skill and colourful personality made him a leading American sports figure of the 1920s. As a boy Greenleaf attained prominence by defeating Bennie Allen, at that time (1913-15) the world pocket billiards champion, in an exhibition match at Monmouth. In Detroit, Mich., in 1929 he made a run of 126 (a record for championship play on a table measuring 5 by 10 feet [152 by 305 cm]), to regain the world title from Frank Taberski in only two innings. In an exhibition he achieved a record run of 269.