Frank B. Adams (December 19, 1847[1] – December 29, 1929[2]), commonly known as Yank Adams, was a professional carom billiards player who specialized in finger billiards, in which a player directly manipulates the balls with his or her hands, instead of using an implement such as a cue stick,[3] often by twisting the ball between one's thumb and middle finger.[4] Adams, who was sometimes billed as the "Digital Billiard Wonder",[5] has been called the "greatest of all digit billiards players",[6] and the "champion digital billiardist of the World."[7] George F. Slosson, a top billiards player of Adams' era, named him the "greatest exhibition player who ever lived."[6] Adams' exhibitions drew audiences of 1,000 or more, leaving standing room only, even in small venues.[8]
Adams' career began when he found his aptitude for bowling translated to the playing of billiards. One day when he was 25 years old, he picked up some billiard balls and began to "bowl" on the table and soon discovered he could manipulate the balls with great accuracy in this manner. Largely self-taught, Adams thereafter amassed a large repertoire of finger billiards shots. He engaged a manager and began to give performances, his first was at an engagement in New York City. Later, Adams traveled extensively, giving exhibitions and taking on challengers in cities across the United States and some in Europe. During his travels, Adams performed before the Vanderbilts, the Goulds, three U.S. Presidents, the Prince of Wales in London, and the Comte de Paris in Paris. One of the largest matches ever played of any form of billiards took place at Manhattan's Gilmore's Gardens in 1878. Adams played using his fingers against William Sexton, the reigning cue champion of the world, who used a cue; Adams won the three-day competition in the game of straight rail.
^"Frank B. Adams" (PDF). The New York Clipper. Vol. 26. August 31, 1878. Retrieved February 2, 2010.
^"New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WGM-FQX : 3 June 2020), Frank B. Adams, 1929.
^Shamos, Michael Ian (1993). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Billiards. New York, NY: Lyons & Burford. pp. 46, 94. ISBN 1-55821-219-1.
^"The New Billiard-Player". The New York Times. September 21, 1875. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
^"Finger Billiards: Yank Adams to Give an Exhibition at the Standard To-Night". The Saint Paul Daily Globe. April 26, 1888. p. 5. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
^ abCite error: The named reference The Sun was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Yank Adams, of Chicago". Omaha Daily Bee. November 2, 1889. p. 2. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
^"Fancy Shots". The Saint Paul Daily Globe. May 1, 1890. p. 5. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
Frank B. Adams (December 19, 1847 – December 29, 1929), commonly known as YankAdams, was a professional carom billiards player who specialized in finger...
2018. "Yanks' Adams to debut Saturday vs. Red Sox". ESPN.com. August 3, 2018. King, George A. (August 5, 2018). "Yankees give Chance Adams no help in...
Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. presidents...
specifically because of nudity, because it doesn't take a whole lot of class to yank your clothes off ... I had a body double in Lolita [so] I think the goal...
Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California.[citation needed] Pin-ups of Yank, the Army Weekly "Actress-Model Is Dead At Age Of 46". The Danville Register...
Eric Millegan as Dr. Zack Addy (seasons 1–3; guest, 4–5, 11–12), Jonathan Adams as Dr. Daniel Goodman (season 1), Tamara Taylor as pathologist Dr. Camille...
(1933) Conflict – Gus "Knockout" Carrigan (1936) The Long Voyage Home – Yank (1940) The Shepherd of the Hills – Wash Gibbs (1941) A Man Betrayed – Floyd...
bar Joe MacBeth (1955) as Banky It's a Great Day (1955) as Harry Mason A Yank in Ermine (1955) as Nightclub manager Ramsbottom Rides Again (1956) as Black...
SNY. "Mets Add Austin Adams to 'Pen Mix on One-Year Deal". mlb.com. Retrieved November 30, 2023. "Mets Ink Deal With Former Yanks RHP Luis Saverino". MLB...
Weekly Series". Deadline Hollywood. Nemetz, Dave (April 18, 2018). "Taken Yanked Off Schedule by NBC, Will Move to Saturdays This Summer". TVLine. Retrieved...
America's Best Comics (not to be confused with the DC Comics imprint), Fighting Yank, and Black Terror; her final Golden Age appearance was America's Best Comics...
Pentheus and Agave in Bakkhai at the Almeida Theatre. Carvel also performed as Yank in the play The Hairy Ape at the Old Vic in November of the same year. In...
many of whom are in the public domain, including the protagonist, Fighting Yank. The story is set in a present-day world that is different from our own;...
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