Edward Stephen Waitkus (September 4, 1919 – September 16, 1972) was a

Lithuanian American Lithuanian Americans refers to American citizens and residents who are Lithuanian and were born in Lithuania, or are of Lithuanian descent. New Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has the largest percentage of Lithuanian Americans (20.8%) in the United ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

who had an 11-year career (1941, 1946–1955). He played for the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

and for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

of the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

. He was elected to the National League All-Star team twice (1948 and 1949).

Early career, WWII

Waitkus, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, grew up in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and attended

Cambridge Rindge and Latin School The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, also known as CRLS or "Rindge," is a public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is a part of the Cambridge Public School District. In 1977, two separate schools, the Rindge Technical ...

and

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

. He began his professional career in 1938 playing for the Worumbo Indians, a semi-professional team sponsored by Worumbo Woolen Mill in

Lisbon Falls, Maine Lisbon Falls is a census-designated place (CDP) in the town of Lisbon, located in Androscoggin County, Maine, United States. The population of Lisbon Falls was 4,100 at the 2010 census. It is included in both the Lewiston- Auburn, Maine, metrop ...

. As a rookie, he was known as "the natural," which gave the title to the book loosely based on his life. Waitkus saw some of the bloodiest fighting of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

with the U.S. Army in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, and was awarded four

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

s. During

Operation Cartwheel Operation Cartwheel (1943–1944) was a major military operation for the Allies in the Pacific theatre of World War II. Cartwheel was an operation aimed at neutralising the major Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation was directed by the ...

Waitkus saved the life of a badly bleeding fellow soldier, leaving his foxhole during an attack on his position, and finding some safety pins to stop the bleeding. Upon his return to baseball he quickly became a star for the

. He also became a popular media figure, as he was well-educated and was fluent in Lithuanian, Polish, German, and French. Following the 1948 season, the Cubs traded Waitkus with

Hank Borowy Henry Ludwig Borowy (May 12, 1916 – August 23, 2004) was an American professional baseball starting pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1942 through 1951 for the New York Yankees (1942–45), Chicago Cubs (1945–48), Phila ...

to the

for

Monk Dubiel Walter John "Monk" Dubiel (February 12, 1918 – October 23, 1969) was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, and Chicago Cubs. He stoo ...

and Dutch Leonard.

Shooting

Just a few years into the start of what seemed a very promising career,

Ruth Ann Steinhagen Ruth Ann Steinhagen (born Ruth Catherine Steinhagen; December 23, 1929 – December 29, 2012) was an American woman who shot and nearly killed Eddie Waitkus, star first baseman of the Philadelphia Phillies, on June 14, 1949, in one of the first in ...

, an obsessed fan, shot Waitkus at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Edgewater Beach Hotel The Edgewater Beach Hotel was a resort hotel complex on Lake Michigan in the far-north neighborhood community of Edgewater in Chicago, Illinois, designed by Benjamin H. Marshall and Charles E. Fox. The first section was built in 1916 for its o ...

on June 14, 1949, in one of the earliest recognized cases of criminal stalking. Steinhagen had become infatuated with him when he was a Cub, but seeing him every day in-season may have kept her obsession in check. Once he was traded to the Phillies, Steinhagen's obsession grew to dangerous proportions. She checked into the hotel using the alias of a former high school classmate of his and left a note at the desk, asking him to come to her hotel room on an urgent matter. When he arrived in her room, she shot him with a .22 caliber rifle; the bullet entered his lung, barely missing his heart. She immediately called the desk to report the shooting and was found cradling his head in her lap. Waitkus was taken to the Illinois Masonic Hospital, where he nearly died several times on the operating table before the bullet was successfully removed. Steinhagen never stood trial but instead was confined to a mental institution for a few years.

Return to action

After being shot in Chicago, Waitkus did not play again in the 1949 season, in which he compiled a .306 batting average with 27 RBI and 41 runs scored in 54 games played. However Waitkus did return in uniform, although not to action, on August 19, 1949, for "Eddie Waitkus Night" at

Shibe Park Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...

, at which he was feted by the Phillies and showered with gifts. Waitkus returned to play in the 1950 season as the leadoff hitter for the Whiz Kids team that won the 1950 National League pennant. Waitkus led the team in scoring with 102 runs. Waitkus made his only post-season appearance in the 1950 World Series. After the 1950 season, Waitkus was named the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

Comeback Player of the Year.

Later life

Prior to the 1954 season, the

purchased Waitkus from the Philadelphia Phillies for $40,000 (). Released by the Orioles in 1955, he returned to the Phillies for the remainder of the season. After the 1955 baseball season was complete, the Phillies released Waitkus. Waitkus taught at

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 1939 ...

' baseball camp before dying of esophageal cancer at age 53.Munich tragedy has happened before
/ref>

''The Natural''

Author

Bernard Malamud Bernard Malamud (April 26, 1914 – March 18, 1986) was an American novelist and short story writer. Along with Saul Bellow, Joseph Heller, and Philip Roth, he was one of the best known American Jewish authors of the 20th century. His baseba ...

may have woven the basic elements of the Waitkus story – including that some called Waitkus "The Natural" because of his natural swing – and other baseball legends (notably that of Joe Jackson) into ''

The Natural ''The Natural'' is a 1952 novel about baseball by Bernard Malamud, and is his debut novel. The story follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked after being shot by a woman whose motivation remains mysterious. The story mo ...

''. The book was published in 1952 and was made into a

Hollywood film The cinema of the United States, consisting mainly of major film studios (also known as Hollywood) along with some independent film, has had a large effect on the global film industry since the early 20th century. The dominant style of Ame ...

starring

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...

released in 1984. However, it is unclear if Malamud was solely inspired by the shooting of Waitkus, or if he also borrowed from the life of Cubs shortstop

Billy Jurges William Frederick Jurges (May 9, 1908 – March 3, 1997) was an American shortstop, third baseman, manager, coach and scout in Major League Baseball. He was born in the Bronx, New York. During the 1930s, he was central to three (, and ) National ...

, who was shot by his ex-girlfriend in 1932 at the Chicago hotel in which they lived.

References

External links

* Jack Bale
"The Shootings of Billy Jurges and Eddie Waitkus"

Eddie Waitkus
at BaseballBiography.com
Life And Times Of Eddie Waitkus
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Waitkus, Eddie 1919 births 1972 deaths American people of Lithuanian descent American shooting survivors Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Massachusetts Chicago Cubs players Deaths from esophageal cancer Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts Major League Baseball first basemen National League All-Stars Philadelphia Phillies players Sportspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts Moline Plow Boys players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players Los Angeles Angels (minor league) players United States Army personnel of World War II