As we close our our study of The Natural, it seems (once again) that the stars are aligned with our course of study .... unplanned, of course.
What do think of this story?
This will be our final post before spring break. We'll pick up posting once we return. Thanks for your good work and insights. I especially enjoyed the posts from last week!
**Kudos to Josh C for sending me another version of this story. Good eye!
I read this over the weekend too and was planning on bringing it up in class but looks like JC beat me to it. It's pretty crazy to think that Memo and The Natural was based off of a real story. Sounds like this lady has some pretty serious mental issues and part of me feels bad while the other part is like, "what the heck?" I also think it's really interesting that Waitkus had no interest in seeing her tried but I guess if he ended up being okay and was able to play after the fact, letting her off after all that time in the state prison was the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI think this story really connects with our discussion of Heroes and how when they make a decision that we deem a mistake, we immediately ostracize them and label them a villain. This is exactly what happened to Waitkus. He decided to change teams, a simple decision in the overall theme of things but a fanatic Chicagoan girl who was in love with him on the Cubs became extremely offended by this switch. In a heartbeat, unbeknownst to him, one of his biggest fans became one of his biggest enemies.
ReplyDeleteAs a society, our idea of a hero forces them to be flawed. They are unable to make significant decisions without having at least one person hate them for the choice they make and I think this is proven with the case of Waitkus and Steinhagen.
The most interesting part of this article to me is the fact that Waitkus did not feel the need to see Steinhagen tried for attempted murder. I think this touches on an aspect of a hero that we have not discussed much in class—compassion. A hero must hold a level of forgiveness and kindness so as to let go of the evils in his/her past and look to the future. A hero is able to progress by working towards a new goal and Waitkus proves this by looking past Steinhagen and focusing on his own success. Although Roy tries to forget about his past, he is still weakened by a form of PTSD in his subconscious that keeps him slightly distracted throughout the book. It is not until he tells someone else, Iris, about his past—thereby accepting it—that he is able to move on in some way and continue to play the game (though not extremely successful, as he is vulnerable to other detrimental distractions; but that’s not related to this).
ReplyDeleteThis story surprised me mostly in that it's fascinating that it was based on a true story, but no one has mentioned it to me when I have spoken with them about the book. The story of The Natural in my mind is a bit ridiculous, and even more so after realizing that parts of it are true. On top of that, the story is outlandish in itself so I don't know why the story of Waitkus's attempted murder didn't become more famous in it's original form.
ReplyDeleteAside from that, it also strikes me that someone could be entirely "cured" from mental illness that severe in only three years. Even after being "cured" she didn't serve any more time, a rarity in today's prison system. Although I know little about the justice system in the late 1940s I would expect it to be less lenient with (attempted) murderers.
What most surprises me about this story is that Waitkus had "no interest...in seeing [Steinhagen] tried or seeing her prosecuted." In case he forgot at the time, the women did shoot him point blank in the chest, solely because he was traded to the rival Phillies. Why would Waitkus want someone like Steinhagen, who clearly has mental issues, to wonder the streets as an innocent women? From the perspective of a sports fan, I can appreciate Steinhagen's passion to a certain extent. She was clearly committed to her Cubs and the shooting of Waitkus was, I guess, a way of showing loyalty to her hometown team. However, Steinhagen didn't realize that baseball is just a game and life or death situations should never be connected with sports.
ReplyDeleteI am a bit let down about this story because I was hoping that there was a actual baseball player that fit Roy Hobbs's character more closely. Obviously, there are some parts that would be a bit absurd to actually happen but I still wish there was an actual baseball player that Malamud based the book off of. This would have made the book better because then I would be able research the actual baseball player and see how he differs from Roy Hobbs. I am still very surprised that there was a baseball player who was shot by a obsessed fan but it isn't as exciting as a player being very similar to Roy Hobbs.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading another article about the death of Ruth Ann Steinhagan and doing a little of research, I learned that Malamud has gone back and forth over whether this real life event inspired "The Natural". Disregarding whether it did or not, I think it speaks to how a lot of literature is based on real life experiences. Malamud twisted the story though, as it took Roy fifteen years to return to the game and Waitkus returned the following season; he made it his own. Also, as a couple other people touched on, Waitkus' decision to not press charges surprised me. I imagined that a ballplayer would want revenge for anything done to halt their career, but maybe Waitkus is more of a hero than I expected.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about this (somewhat) parallel story. While there are many similarities, mainly the hotel room scene, the motive is different. In The Natural Harriet shoots Roy because of his skills and possibly his love of money, while in this story, Waitkus is shot because he changed teams. It also seems that Ruth was mainly focused on this one player while Harriet would shoot anyone talented.
ReplyDeleteI am curious why Waitkus did not bother to prosecute her. I am guessing that he never blindly accepted invitations to a stranger's hotel room again though.
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ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed learning about this historical similarity to events in The Natural. I really think this story (whether it actually inspired The Natural or not) speaks to many of the themes in the book. It shows the way we exalt heroes in our society and place them on a pedestal, but once they do something we don't like we demonize them. Lebron James was Cleveland's hero, playing for the Cavaliers, their knight in shining armor, but once he left for Miami he may as well have been the Devil. Athletes as heroes play an interesting role in our lives and and society. The fact that Waitkus never chose to prosecute Steinhagen just plays further into the myth and legend of this story. Maybe, just like Roy, Waitkus had to learn how to play the role of a hero in his path and wanted to keep his past in the past.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised to see that the scene in which Roy is shot in the natural was so obviously based on this true event. For me, this really helped to give the natural, a seemingly far-fetched story, a lot more realism. Something that really jumped out at me was the fact that Waitkus was able to play the very next season. I had a hard time believing that Roy was able to get back into professional ball after what I would expect to be a severely crippling injury, but this article has now shown me that Malamud may not have been writing as far-fetched a story as I had originally thought.
ReplyDeleteLike other students have said, reading this story added a little bit of realism to Malamud's story. Malamud tries to convey the Hero's Cycle in a modern (well not anymore) setting, and by using an event that actually occurred, he adds to the realism and the possibility of the story being true. Unlike the story however, Ruth Ann Steinhagen did not kill Eddie Waitkus because he had clouded judgment or because he was corrupted, but because Steinhagen's image of him was corrupted. She had constructed a shrine to Waitkus when he was the first basemen for the Chicago Cubs, but when he was traded to the Philles, Steinhagen image of him was ruined. The use of Steinhagen's story makes me believe that The Natural might not be as fictitious as I had previously believed.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed listening to the real history on which Malamud's story was based. Like everyone else has said, it adds a bit of realism to the novel. What I think was most interesting was the difference in character between Roy and Eddie. While Roy was truly one of the best players, Eddie was merely decent. I looked up his stats and he played for less than ten seasons and was about a .285 career hitter. Decent stats but he was nothing special. Eddie is obviously less than a hero to have only decent stats and to have been involved in this shooting in the first place. The conditions to this shooting seem awfully suspicious. A nineteen year old girl in a grown man's hotel room and 3 years later the player doesnt even want to prosecute the person who shot him...Either way you take it, I just thought that what could be extracted from the real life story compared to the Roy Hobbs story is pretty interesting. It makes Roy seem a bit more heroic actually.
ReplyDeleteAll ball players, to a certain extent, play for themselves and not their fans. Luis Figo and Ronaldo, two of the best players in football history moved from Barcelona to their rivals Real Madrid. How talented Luis Figo and Ronaldo were meant nothing to the Catalan fans once they changed teams. This helps me add new definition to a Hero as an athlete. A Hero is someone who is loved and revered by their team's fans. Steinhagen had a crush on Waitkus— he was a handsome, talented ball player. But once Waitkus changed teams, it didn't matter how attractive he was. What fans really look in a player is not necessarily how talented they are. This does not elevate them to this Hero status, but them using their talent and remaining humble and loyal is what makes them a Hero.
ReplyDeleteI was very surprised when I saw the title of this article, because the events of the Natural seem to be too outrageous to happen in real life. Even though the motive behind the two shootings were different, I was surprised how similar the actual scene was: how she invited him to her room, and he went, with no hesitation. Today, I think that a baseball player, or frankly anyone, would be wary if a stranger called and invited you down to their room. I wonder if the fact that Steinhagen was a woman made Waitkus feel less threatened and safer than if a man had asked Waitkus to come to his room.
ReplyDeleteGiven The Natural's impact on modern culture, I would not have thought that its inspiration could go unnoticed for so long, so I decided to look around. Some searching brought me to this article from 1989: http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-23/sports/sp-965_1_eddie-waitkus , and not much else. It appears that while the story was not forgotten, it did not become part of baseball lore as one might expect. I have been unable to find any direct evidence that the story of Waitkus was Malamud's inspiration; all articles including the wiki were written as if the plot similarities made the origin self-evident. In fact, it is possible that another shot player, Billy Jurges, is the real parallel to Roy Hobbes (http://bit.ly/100K3bp). If any quotes or interviews of Malamud are out there, they have not been brought up in any article I came across. This uncertain side of journalism is particularly fascinating for me.
ReplyDeleteThis brings me to great realization, that scenarios like these actually do happen in modern day. Obsessions are very hard to understand because they can be held for a large range of reasons. It's amazing to contemplate on what specifically is going on in someone's mind during an obsession. It can lead to different and weird desires that have no logical explanations. I am curious to find out what exactly brought Ruth Ann Steinhagen to commit such a violent shooting. It just proves that obsessions can be extremely dangerous and understood very vaguely. I love how Malamud took a real life experience and made their own story out of it. The scenario was an eye opening scene that Malamud took and made brilliance.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting piece to read, especially because I had no idea such an event had happened in real life. What surprised me about the whole event was how easily Steinhagen disappeared. The article talks about how she was scarcely seen for 60 years after she shot Waitkus, yet I'm amazed that she was never sought out after The Natural was published. If a similar event happened today, where an obsessed fan shot a professional ballplayer, I am sure the whole event, including the shooter, would get a lot more media attention. If the that event then helped shape a popular book and subsequent movie, it's hard to believe the shooter would not be interviewed or mentioned in some way. This story illustrates how times have changed since the 40s seeing as Steinhagen was all but forgotten after she shot Waitkus.
ReplyDeleteReading this article made me realize two things. One, that I could probably write a book about Wilson Ramos getting kidnapped in Venezuela, and that eventually someone will make a movie out of it. And two, sometimes it is better to leave a story as is, ie not unveil the author's inspiration behind a story. This is because after reading this article, I felt quite a bit of disillusionment. It took away from the myth, legend, and possibilities of the Roy Hobbs story. Now when I think about The Natural, I am not thinking about the legend that Malamud has created with this character, but of Eddie Waitkus, a pretty good, if not okay, baseball player who got shot, but returned the next season.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm not entirely sure that the entire plot of the novel is as based off of Eddie Waitkus story as the article makes it out be. It's possible that Malamud just took the hotel scene from the Eddie Waitkus story, and that he did not base the Roy Hobbs character off of him, as the article implies.