The Strange Story That May Have Spawned “The Natural”
The movie is also more uplifting than the book.
The Natural is one of my favorite sports movies. While the sports scenes are hyperbolic, Redford does look like an athlete. He played baseball in college, and it shows. Beyond Redford’s performance, the movie also featured Wilford Brimley and Richard Farnsworth. Farnsworth was one of my favorite actors, so the movie is boosted by that.
And we all know the happy ending of the movie.
By the way, if you have read the book, you know the ending is much more of a bummer. Sorry if that was spoiler for you, but I doubt many of you were racing to the library (what’s that) to read the book.
So now one to the lesser-known real story.
There was a ballplayer named Eddie Waitkus
Eddie played for the Cubs from the mid to late 40s and was a pretty good, though not great player. During his time in Chicago a fan named Ruth Ann Steinhagen became obsessed with him.
After the 1949 season, Waitkus was traded to the Phillies. While Waitkus had changed teams, Steinhagen’s obsession with him remained.
