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What was eddie Waitkus known for?
Edward Stephen Waitkus (September 4, 1919 – September 16, 1972) was a Lithuanian American first baseman in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career (1941, 1946–1955). He played for the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies in the National League and for the Baltimore Orioles of the American League.
What happened to eddie Waitkus?
A longtime smoker, Waitkus, 53, died at a Veterans Administration Hospital in Boston on Sept. 16, 1972, a victim of esophageal cancer. Forty years later, Steinhagen, 83, died on Dec. 29, 2012, after an accidental fall in her house.
When was Eddie Waitkus shot?
June 14, 1949
A two-time National League All-Star (in 1948–49), the 29-year-old Waitkus was hitting . 306 when he was shot on June 14, 1949; his assailant, Ruth Ann Steinhagen, a stenographer, was a decade his junior. He did not don a Phillies uniform for the remainder of the 1949 season.
What baseball player was called The Natural?
Eddie Waitkus
Eddie Waitkus is the baseball player who inspired the novel “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud, which was made into the movie The Natural (1984), starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs. Waitkus was a top defensive first baseman and left-handed line-drive hitter.
What was Roy Hobbs secret?
The movie Roy Hobbs played part of one season only, hit a heroic homer, then settled down. During his only season with the Knights, Hobbs is the hottest player in baseball but he got involved with a woman (with links to gamblers) who poisoned him.
Where is the Wonderboy bat?
Wonderboy Baseball Bat used in the Movie The Natural | National Museum of American History.
Was The Natural based on a real person?
Eddie Waitkus is the baseball player who inspired the novel “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud, which was made into the movie The Natural (1984), starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs. Waitkus was a top defensive first baseman and left-handed line-drive hitter. He was one of the toughest men in the league to strike-out.
Who was the bat boy in The Natural?
George Wilkosz
Savoy, played by George Wilkosz, was the bat boy in Redford’s movie “The Natural.”
Where did Roy Hobbs go for 16 years?
In Chicago, Hobbs checks into his hotel and promptly receives a call from Bird, who is also staying there. When he goes down to her room, she shoots him in the stomach. The novel picks up 16 years later in the dugout of the New York Knights, a fictional National League baseball team.
Is Roy Hobbs a true story?
According to Wikipedia, Author Malamud, supposedly not a baseball fan himself, created “the Natural” story and his Roy Hobbs character from the real life of Eddie Waitkus, a major leaguer in 1941 and 1946-55.
What was Wonderboy made of?
Roy Hobbs’s beloved bat, nicknamed “Wonderboy” initially symbolizes his supernatural talent on the baseball field. The bat is given a dramatic origin story—Hobbs carved it himself out of wood from a tree that was split by lightning near his childhood home—which seems to imbue the bat with mythical significance.
Who made the Wonderboy bat?
Roy Hobbs
Bats have always played a central role in the personality, history and mythology of baseball. Babe Ruth swung a mammoth 36-inch, 46-ounce bat made of ash. Roy Hobbs carved his bat out of a tree split in half by lightning, burned a lightning bolt on the barrel and called it Wonderboy.
How many years did Eddie Waitkus play for the Phillies?
Eddie Waitkus. Edward Stephen Waitkus (September 4, 1919 – September 16, 1972) was a Lithuanian American first baseman in Major League Baseball who had an 11-year career (1941, 1946–1955). He played for the Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies in the National League and for the Baltimore Orioles of the American League.
Who is Eddie Waitkus in the natural?
Eddie Waitkus is the baseball player who inspired the novel “The Natural” by Bernard Malamud, which was made into the movie The Natural (1984), starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs. Waitkus was a top defensive first baseman and left-handed line-drive hitter.
What ever happened to John Waitkus?
Waitkus managed to survive the shooting after enduring four operations, and returned to the major leagues in 1950, playing a key role in the Philadelphia Philles Whiz Kids’ rush to the National League pennant. But the story does not have a happy ending.
Is Waitkus a Hall of Famer?
Waitkus was a top defensive first baseman and left-handed line-drive hitter. He was one of the toughest men in the league to strike-out. He spent 11 years wearing a major league uniform. Although his numbers were not Hall of Fame numbers he did have a lifetime batting average of .285.