History
Johnny Kling Pool's First Two-Sport Champion Story by SAM KORTE
It seems unfathomable that someone would walk away from a starring role with the World Champion Chicago Cubs to shoot pool full time.
A
nd that it would be possible to make more money playing pool than professional baseball. But “Noisy” Johnny Kling, the starting catcher for the 1908 Chicago Cubs,
blazed this incredible path over 100 years ago. Kling grew up in Kansas City playing both pool and baseball. The future
two-sport star spent his days on the baseball diamond and his nights at one of the dozens of pool rooms that dotted the growing city. By the time he turned 18, Kling was the top pool player in Kansas City, winning the city championship most years with unmatched skill at continuous pool. Continuous pool—in which all fifteen balls are pocketed and reracked so the shooter’s run can continue with a full rack—was the pocket billiards tournament game in the years before 14.1 was invented. Kling’s rising pool and baseball skills went hand and hand. Kling attributed his ability to throw out baserunners not only to his strong arm, “but to (his) eyesight, sharpened each night by close games with the cue.” After a few years of semi-professional baseball and pool, the young catcher was signed by Chicago (not yet the Cubs) in 1900. Kling earned the moniker “Noisy” due to his constant barking at opposing batters. A sharp eye was not the only asset Kling brought from the pool hall to the baseball diamond. Kling continued to play competitive pool even after joining the ranks of baseball’s professional catchers. He competed in both pool tournaments and challenge matches, occasionally coming within a few balls of beating the great players of the era. The press and top billiard professionals specu-
40 | Billiards Buzz • May 2022
