JimStinson
07-26-2012, 10:35 AM
I came across this autograph today its an album page signed by Eddie Waitkus who was the real life inspiration for Bernard Malamud's "The Natural" but whats intriquing is the date "1949". It must have been signed right before he was shot,
Just a few years into the start of what seemed a very promising career, Waitkus was shot in the chest by Ruth Ann Steinhagen, an obsessed fan, on June 14, 1949, at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Steinhagen had become infatuated with him when he was a Cub, but seeing him every day in-season apparently kept her obsession in check. Once he was traded to the Phillies and would only be in Chicago 11 games in the season, her 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. She then shot him with a rifle, the bullet barely missing his heart. 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.
After a little more research the details involving her obsession were even more bizarre, she had built a "shrine" to Waitkus in her house and said that she had been planning on killing him for years. While she was in jail they allowed her to put pictures of Waitkus on the walls of her cell ! She was released three years later and declared "Cured" she would be around 81 today if she were still alive but no record exists of what became of her.
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Vintage autographs for sale daily
http://stores.ebay.com/Jim-Stinson-Sports
Just a few years into the start of what seemed a very promising career, Waitkus was shot in the chest by Ruth Ann Steinhagen, an obsessed fan, on June 14, 1949, at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. Steinhagen had become infatuated with him when he was a Cub, but seeing him every day in-season apparently kept her obsession in check. Once he was traded to the Phillies and would only be in Chicago 11 games in the season, her 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. She then shot him with a rifle, the bullet barely missing his heart. 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.
After a little more research the details involving her obsession were even more bizarre, she had built a "shrine" to Waitkus in her house and said that she had been planning on killing him for years. While she was in jail they allowed her to put pictures of Waitkus on the walls of her cell ! She was released three years later and declared "Cured" she would be around 81 today if she were still alive but no record exists of what became of her.
_________________________
Vintage autographs for sale daily
http://stores.ebay.com/Jim-Stinson-Sports