Comments on: The woman who shot Eddie Waitkus — and inspired “The Natural” — dies at 83

By: pinion8ted

pinion8ted — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 01:54:29 +0000

By the way, Mr. Waitkus was a great neighbor and a stand-up guy, all the men in the neighborhood liked him. He never bragged about being a pro ball player – which in those days was like being an NFL star today – and to my knowledge he never mentioned the shooting to anyone. The other men seemed to respect his privacy. There was no sign, or even talk of, alcoholism …. not one.

Hate to see false stories about any guy.

By: pinion8ted

pinion8ted — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 01:44:58 +0000

Here’s a very weird personal connection to this story, take a moment please.

Until I read the news story yesterday, I had no idea that “The Natural” was based on a real-life story, let alone how close to home it hit.

I’m 57 now, but in the early 60s my family moved from just outside of Boston, to a suburb called Franklin. We lived in a neighborhood that had a home-made ball field that all the neighbor Dads and kids helped build. The field was across the street from my house, and directly behind the house of a guy my dad said played “a little ball” in his younger day, which is why he was always happy to see us kids using that field. He’d come over every spring when we cleaned up the field for the season, and stop by now and then to give us some pointers. Unlike the neighbor next store (the typical “keep your ball out of my yard!” guy), this man was very nice to us kids.

That neighbor’s name?

Eddie Waitkus.

A little research shows that Eddie Waitkus grew up outside of Boston, and retired back to Massachusetts when his career was over. I just made the connection yesterday that I actually lived across the street from the REAL Roy Hobbs…… true story!

Wow!

By: schmedley69

schmedley69 — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:37:36 +0000

Of course this story has been swept under the rug over the years. If the roles were reversed and it was a Phillies fan who shot a Cubs player, I’m sure that we would be reminded of it at least once a week on SportsCenter, like the booing Santa Clause thing.

By: lostsok

lostsok — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 22:58:31 +0000

Never a fan of the novel. Like Peter Griffin said about The Godfather: It insists upon itself.

The movie was amazing on first viewing, still kinda good on 2nd, but with each repeated viewing…it just gets slower and more ponderous.

Give me Field of Dreams and Bull Durham. Or Rhubarb, the one about the cat that owns the Cubs.

By: turdfurgerson68

turdfurgerson68 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:53:08 +0000

So sorry if you, or anyone else, fell that I’m a shill for the ‘agents of death’, i.e., the alcohol and tobacco industries. It’s probably the result of a hang-up somewhere in your life…please to lay that down on me.

And there were plenty of tobacco addicts who were complete teetotalers back in the day.

Regardless of what that brazen, loathsome, wench did to him, he was doomed to die in an awful way.

Tar and arsenic are a-ok to inhale? Complete rubbish! The only substances a-ok to inhale are now legal in Colorado and Washington State

By: phillyphannn83

phillyphannn83 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:45:29 +0000

I’m ambidextrous

By: phillyphannn83

phillyphannn83 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:35:24 +0000

I’m pretty sure is was alluding to the fact that drinking and smoking go hand-in-hand, especially back then. So it is more than plausible to link his drinking with the esophageal cancer, which no doubt came from smoking. The only way to prove that would be to find some evidence to his smoking use before and after the shooting. I’m not doing that research, as I’m a 3rd party to this nit-picking arguement, but if either of you would like to PROPERLY prove your argument, there’s your ticket.

And turdferguson, you sound like a big tobacco company trying to make us believe the sky isn’t blue, water isn’t wet, and cigarettes don’t cause cancer; because, ya know, tar and arsenic are a-ok to inhale.

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:11:11 +0000

If I am on here, and the little organe thing pops up, I check, yes. Not OCD – I think you just didn’t like getting called out for thumbs uppping yourself

By: turdfurgerson68

turdfurgerson68 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:22:43 +0000

Ha ha, I’m no self-promoter chief. Are you saying no one else can enjoy what I’m saying? Seems a tad OCD; you’re constantly checking comments.

I stand by my statement…

By: blacksables

blacksables — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:14:00 +0000

I saw the same thing reported. That she died in December and no one made the connection until just a short time ago.

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:49:42 +0000

First off, that is so lame to thumbs up your own quote immediately after putting it up – yes, we know you like it, or you would not have posted it.

Second, I am sure the alcoholic beverage manufacturers appreciate your input.

I standy by statment that it is sad that Eddie Waitkus did not get help dealign with the issues he had after being shot

By: indaburg

indaburg — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:49:19 +0000

Well, I didn’t know beavers were so well read–don’t books make good dam material?–so we’re both learning new things.

By: turdfurgerson68

turdfurgerson68 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:41:31 +0000

“Feel free to quote what I say..”

Ok, I will: “no scientific evidence has been found between alcohol and esophageal adenocarcinoma”.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22504051?dopt=Abstract

Maybe she sis give him the cancer after all….that strumpet!

By: cur68

cur68 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:15:04 +0000

There’s a Major League book? And Charlie Sheen can write?

Wow. Didn’t know either of those things.

By: indaburg

indaburg — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 18:12:48 +0000

But is Major League the movie better than Major League the book (foreword by Charlie Sheen)?

By: roycethebaseballhack

roycethebaseballhack — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:48:38 +0000

Did not know this either, Seattle. Great movie. It inspired me to want a guitar built from a tree that’d been hit by lightning. Hit by lightning on Elvis’s birthday would be even better.

By: umrguy42

umrguy42 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:32:14 +0000

We read the book and watched the movie for HS english. I don’t remember all the differences in the two, but I preferred the movie’s happy ending, to be honest. The book’s was just too depressing, like depressing for depressing’s sake.

Also, I’ve been known to be an occasional sucker for happy endings.

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:17:13 +0000

No actually, my fave is also Major League. Moneyball is pretty far down the list. I much preferred the Moneyball book to the movie. Maybe if they had dressed Brad Pitt in a wizard’s outfit, like Ian McKellan in Lord of the Rings…

By: phillyphannn83

phillyphannn83 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:57:41 +0000

spudchukar, perhaps YOU should heed your own advice and learn the proper use of the comma.

By: phillyphannn83

phillyphannn83 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:51:49 +0000

Just playing devil’s advocate here and making assumptions but I’m pretty sure the Chicago Tribune is not the only publication in a big city like Chicago. Indeed, there is the Chicago Sun Times and I’m sure more. Maybe one of them reported it? Maybe it was on the local news?

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:35:27 +0000

So it goes. Reminds me how much I miss that man from Indianapolis. What a saint.

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:32:54 +0000

As, 1historian, indicated, unless you are planning on blowing up all baseball movies with severe armament, then I suggest you use only one “n”. Perhaps you should have hung around grammar class a little longer, before sneaking off to the movies, pompously speaking.

By: cur68

cur68 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:19:21 +0000

Major League, of course. I think that's probably pretty much everyone's fave. Your's MUST be Moneyball right? How could it not be. Its a tribute to your #1Guy: The GPB.

By: APBA Guy

APBA Guy — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:17:09 +0000

Ok, I’ll bite. What is your favorite baseball movie?

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:14:48 +0000

I always hid a mousetrap in my gift baskets. No one can shoot you if three of their fingers are broken.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:13:28 +0000

Yeah, I do love that novel. Unfortunately little corner grocery stores like that one are pretty much gone the way of Stellar’s sea cow, Yiddish newspapers and the Tasmanian tiger. The father/proprietor of the store reminded me so much of the owner of the grocery downstairs from my grandparents’ apartment in Alphabet City on the Lower East Side of Manhattan when I was a kid. I still remember using the change I was given to run downstairs and buy a jar of pickled beets (or whatever) for Ring Dings, Joyvah jellyroll bars or Devil Dogs.

So it goes.

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 16:01:53 +0000

I was fortunate enough to have a college English professor back in the late ’60s, who insisted I read all of Malamud (not too difficult, most of his works are very short), and yes “The Assistant” may be his best.

By: cur68

cur68 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:13:57 +0000

I read more than anyone I know. Often the book IS better than the movie. This movie, however, was VERY good. One of my favourites. In fact, my second favourite baseball movie, ever.

By: seattlenative57

seattlenative57 — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:56:03 +0000

Before the recent reports of the witches death, I had not a clue The Natural was even remotely related to a true event.

By: DelawarePhilliesFan

DelawarePhilliesFan — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:38:01 +0000

No, what I said was that the alcohol abuse caused the cancer.

Feel free to quote what I say – but I can’t be accountable for what I did not say