SPM Billiards Magazine Issue 34

Dennis Hatch Talks to SPM

SPM Writers

Before the Mosconi Cup 2022, SPM just had an insightful conversation with Dennis “Hatchetman” Hatch, former MVP for team USA 2009, 1991 US Open finalist at age 20, then ranked 24th in the world, the youngest player to ever reach the finals, a thrilling match hill-hill match, Buddy Hall, then age 46, ranked 6th in the world at that time. Hall would go on to win it off a dry break on the final rack by Hatch (Mike Sigel commentating on the match), and Buddy Hall ran it out, clinching the match and title 9-8 –if not for a little bad luck, not making a ball on the break, Hatch may have been the youngest player ever to win a US Open title. But luck was on Hall’s side that day, the pool Gods smiling down on him – Hall collapsing down on the table in relief, having squeaked out his race to the finish line just a nose in front of Hatch in a thrilling billiards contest for the ages.

Throughout the course of our discussion, Hatch talked about how the game has changed over the years since he played in the ‘80s and, ‘90s, early 2000’s – his battle with alcohol, for which he is now over seven years sober, enjoying his life, successful in his business outside of pool, his good friend Earl Strickland’s struggle with bipolar disorder, some of his picks for the upcoming Mosconi Cup and US Open fast approaching this year, 2022 – and picks for players to win, whom he believes are the top players in today’s pool game.

Dennis Hatch on the differences from the game back in the 80s and ‘90s, as compared to today’s playing conditions and equipment:

“In the 80’s and ‘90s, we played on Steven’s thick, slow cloth, and you had to have a stroke to get the ball around the table. Every match you played was like Paricaric, Buddy, Varner, Archer, Seagal, Strickland, there were so many…Everybody that played could beat you; there was no easy drawback in the day...Mark Wilson. There were players that you know; honestly, everybody played great, just like they do now, but if I had to compare, here’s my example:

If you took today’s players and put them in our time back then, on that cloth with those balls and tables, we would Rob them. Filler and Shaw, and no offense to them, their Champions are great players, but on these tables, it was a whole different ball game. It was like playing on mud with tight pockets, and you had to hit everything hard to make the cue ball move around the table…If you took those players now, and you could move them forward until this time, these kids would Rob us.

Filler’s a great player; they have great Strokes…but the conditions favor everyone and anyone; you don’t need a stroke to play anymore because the rails are so bouncy, and the cloth is so fast…When we went to tournaments, the tables were not as nice as they are now; they weren’t as new as they are now; we were playing on Old cloth, beat up balls, you know, just it was a little tougher back then is all I’m trying to say.

I think that if you took the players from back then and tried to put them in today’s ERA, with these tables, in these conditions, they would probably be able to compete somewhat, but again, I mean, are you bringing them back in their Prime, and bringing them against these guys, are you bringing me back when I was in the 90s like the best player in the world two or three times to play these guys now, or are you bringing them back, you know, at 40 or 50 like me and playing them?

“Back then, it was at the US Open, all the Filipinos, you know; the US Open has always been International, and it just might be a little bigger now, but it’s hard to decipher, for example, what was it like then compared to now because everything has changed, the conditions, the cloth, the table, the size of the pockets, the balls back when we played; God! I sound so old!” –Dennis Hatch.

Suffice it to say, Hatch, standing as one of the pillars of pool for all of time, documented for

today’s readers and posterity.

Also, we now have both teams for the Mosconi Cup selected. The big underdog, team USA, was bested many times in this modern era of billiards by team Europe – Europe up on team USA over the course of the Cup, with Europe currently having a one-game advantage, 14-13 for the life of the event, beginning in 1994 – pool’s equivalent of Golf’s prestigious Ryder Cup.

Hatch highlights Shane Wolford as one player to look to for the future, SVB, and talks about how he feels like Strickland is the greatest nine-ball player in the history of pool, his friend, and his struggle with Bipolar Disorder, for which this writer also suffers, and I for one don’t believe Strickland gets upset at times NOT merely to cause a commotion – I honestly feel that Strickland, like myself, is so often struggling with demons no one can see, and that is the source of his pain. Check the video interview to see what Hatch says about his friend Earl “The Pearl” Strickland, coming to his defense and saying before the fact, and you heard it here first, that was one of Hatch’s possible picks for the Mosconi Cup 2022; let’s get ready to rumble! Check out the Hatch interview and what SPM has cooked for December! Play on, Players! Will the USA take the Cup back home this year and tie the series 14-14? With Earl on the team now, anything is possible.

Hatch also made another announcement! He will be returning to pool in January 2023! Check out the interview on SPM TV.