![]() Tom also owned Tommy’s Billiards and Sports Bar in Tempe in the mid 90s. Tom held both amateur and pro events at Tommy’s and attracted all of the top pro players to town. In 1989, Tom opened Tommy’s Billiards in Mesa and he was the first room owner to bring Diamond Pool Tables into Arizona in the early 90s. Tom won six Arizona State Titles including both singles and scotch doubles 9-ball, 8-ball and One Pocket. At that event, Tom defeated Ray Martin who had just won the Tampa 9-Ball a month before. Winning this event earned Tom entry to The Caesar’s Tahoe Classic” in Reno. The first big “State Tournament” that he won was the 1983 “Road to Tahoe Classic”, where he double dipped Don Rose in the finals. In 1978, he moved to Mesa Arizona where he played at the Q & Brew in Tempe where he met Bob Jackson. He returned to the game of pool in late 1970. While serving in Vietnam, he earned the Purple Heart for wounds received in battle. He took two years away from the game when he was drafted in 1969. By the age of 20, he was matching up with some of the best players in the country. ![]() Tom DiLorenzo grew up in West Covina, Southern California in the 60s and 70s. Hale finally left the game again in the late 2000s and has been reportedly tearing up the tables in the Sun City area ever since. “When he woke up he must have looked like that” said Ferris, recalling Hale’s image of always being well dressed and a gentleman at the table. While the “Hale Storm” moniker was convenient, Ferris also recalled Doug’s other nickname of “Dapper Doug” Hale. “Doug played Jeremy Jones the week after he won the US Open, and broke even” said Ferris. Ferris recalls that Doug was always a phone call away and willing to take on anyone looking for a game. Pappy’s was the hot spot for road players coming through town back then, and owner Tom Ferris was always looking to put Hale in action. In addition to his tournament domination, Doug surprised many a road player when they thought they might have an easy match on their way through Phoenix. Barbox 8-ball was his specialty and he displayed his form in that game at the 2005 Arizona State Barbox 8-Ball Championship where he won a match 7-0 with six table runs, allowing his opponent one trip to the table. Hale might have reached his tournament peak from 2005 to 2007, where he was virtually unstoppable on the Olhausen Desert All Around Tour. He returned without any rust in early 2003, where he defeated a young Scott Frost in the finals of an open event at Pappys. ![]() Doug dominated the local tournament scene through the 90’s and then took a break from the game. By the early 90s though, he was one of the top players in the state. In the late 90’s and 2000s though, they also undoubtedly warned each other of the existence of a Hale Storm in the Phoenix area.ĭoug Hale arrived in Arizona in the mid to late 80s and it took him a little time to develop the game that all of Arizona got to witness. When road players discussed the idea of a trip through Arizona, certainly they warned each other to prepare for the lack of humidity and the unbearable heat. Mike’s example and leadership has had a tremendous impact on pool in Arizona as they have had the effect of raising a standard that other pool rooms have been striving to meet for the past decade. With a stature and personality that is reminiscent of the late, great John Wayne, Mike Bates has worked tirelessly to elevate the status of pool in Arizona by installing and maintaining top-notch equipment by promoting and hosting huge tournaments and by supporting all players, plus many charitable organizations. Upon acquisition, Mike renamed his room Bull Shooters Billiards & Sports Bar where he immediately went to work making that name one that has become known across the country in both pool and dart circles as one that represents the best to be had in both of those sports. ![]() The other two Six Shooters locations (Tempe and west Phoenix) eventually went the way of so many other failed pool rooms in Arizona. Mike’s acquisition was the room located at 35th and Peoria Avenues in northwest Phoenix. On May 6, 2008, Mike Bates took possession of the largest (albeit, struggling) of three Six Shooters Billiards locations that were in operation in the Valley at that time. And the most extraordinary aspect of that achievement is the fact that he did it without even touching a pool cue. Bates went from being a virtual unknown to becoming one of the best known and most respected people in the Arizona pool community. In the span of twelve short years Michael J. ![]()
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