Tina Hodge Will the Real Cesar Morales Please Stand

Will the Real Cesar Morales Please Stand Up!

Though not a household name, most

folks in the pool community know who Efren Reyes is. In the opinion of many and, according to sportsbrowser.net, he is the greatest pool player of all time. One of his many monikers is “The Magician,” but he humbly states that the more he practices, the luckier he gets.

Efren played his first US tournament in Houston, TX, in 1985. Red’s 9-ball Open was not an event for amateurs. Some of the billiards best graced the roster. Buddy Hall and David Matlock were among the competitors. The name Cesar Morales doubtfully struck fear with other contenders. Morales sailed through in a race to 11, knocking challengers out with ease. 11-2, 11-4. When all was said, Morales was named the winner. It wasn’t until a fan asking for an autograph got the true identity of this dynamo - Efren Reyes had crossed the pond and invaded US soil. I’ve been a fan of Efren Reyes for years. I knew the Cesar Morales story from an article in Time Magazine by Phil Zabriskie that ‘The Anitokid’ recirculated. On a whim, I decided to look up Cesar Morales on Facebook a few years back. I sent him a friend request. He accepted. Though we live in two different worlds, Cesar and I have struck up a friendship that I cherish. Much like his friend that used his name as an alias so many years ago, Cesar is also a very humble man. Recently, I happened across a post I made three years ago on FB of the article of Red’s 9-ball Open that has an excellent photo of young Efren. I am very familiar with that look he has in his eyes. It says, “I mean business.” I jokingly asked Cesar if he knew who that skinny kid was. Suddenly I had an idea for an article. What has it been like to be friends with the greatest pool player of all time? And here we are.

I asked Cesar if he’d be interested in doing the story and promised I’d let him ok the article before submitting it. To say I was excited when he agreed is an understatement. I soon realized it wouldn’t be as easy as I initially thought. Although his English is very good, we still have language barriers. I Googled the language of The Philippines - and there’s a bunch. After more research, I figured out how to translate my questions into Tagalog. Now we were getting somewhere. Cesar had already sent me a picture of him and Efren together back in the day. I asked if he had any more pictures of them together. Soon I had 28 photos and three videos. WOW! I thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest! I felt like he had just opened the door of his life and invited me in.

Cesar and Efren met when they were 16 playing pool (go figure). He recently celebrated his 68th birthday on February 10, 2022 (mligayang kaarawan aking kaibigan). This duo has known each other for 52 years. They have shared beers and tears, lots

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of laughs, and of course, a love for pool. Unfortunately, Cesar had to give up the sport in his 40’s due to health problems. Perhaps the next best thing is to relish in the victories of your friend and live vicariously through The Goat.

In 1985 after the Red’s tournament, the young Filipinos roamed the roads of the US in what Cesar called “traveling by land using big car” to “many more places that we just stopover when we travel around to look for an opponent to play pool with us.” After visiting places like Houston, TX, Chicago, IL, Las Vegas, NV, and lots of stops in between, he said that his favorite was Los Angeles, CA. Efren, Cesar, and another popular Filipino pool player you may have heard of, Francisco Bustamante, are all from Angeles City, Philippines. I don’t know if they are putting resin and slate in the water, but they sure know how to grow some shooters!

I never thought much about making The Philippines a goal to visit, but I think it’s moving up on my list of places to see. I wonder if I can find a place there to hit some balls…

Robert Ross is a photographer and SPM Magazine is very greatful to be able to use his photographs of Efren Reyes in the article by Tina Hodge.

Robert G. Ross is well known for his outstanding photography. Ross is a photographer at GoPlayPool.com and Owner of RG Ross Photography. Ross’s love and passion for photography shine through the photos that he takes. Robert has been taking pictures since the late 60s, when he purchased his first camera. Between his love of playing pool and taking photos, Robert enjoys sharing real-time images of pool players within the billiard community. Ross has been sharing pictures for the last 30 - 40 years. Ross is from California and also enjoys landscape photography.

If you would like to reach Robert Ross, call/message him 951-833-0085. You can also follow him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RgRossPhotography. Go Play Pool https://www.goplaypool.com