Greenleaf, Ralph
Pocket Billiards
b. Nov. 3, 1899, Monmouth, IL
d. March 15, 1950
Generally ranked second to Willie Mosconi among the all-time great pocket billiards players, Greenleaf won the world professional title 6 times and defended it 13 times.
He held the championship from 1919 through 1924 and also won it in 1926, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, and 1937. He set records in 1929 for high single-game average, 63, and high grand average, 11.02, on a 5- by 10-foot table.
A colorful showman, Greenleaf continued to attract spectators to exhibition matches until his death of a heart attack in 1950.