DATE OF IMAGE: 1948 PRINT DATE: 1980s ORIGINAL or REPRINT: Type 4 - Second or later-generation photo, printed from a duplicate negative or wire photo process, in a later period TEAM: Chicago Cubs SUBJECT: Eddie Waitkus APPROXIMATE SIZE: 3-3/4"x5" NUMBER OF PHOTOS: 1 COMMENTS / CONDITION: Comes from the archives of either The Sporting News or Sport Magazine. This is one of a large accumulation of vintage sports photographs, slides and negatives that we will be listing over the coming months. Wear on these, if any, is mostly confined to minor corner and edge wear, but see scans for further details including condition. We do not deal in stock images or modern reprints, and all scans shown are of the actual vintage photograph, slide or negative being sold. If you have any questions about a particular piece, please ask before the auction ends. BIO: Edward Stephen Waitkus was born in 1919 in Cambridge, MA and died in 1972 in Jamaica Plain, MA. He played major league baseball from 1941 to 1955 as 1st baseman for the Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies and the Baltimore Orioles, appeared in the 1950 World Series, and was selected in 1948 and 1949 as an All-Star. Waitkus got off to a hot start in 1949, hitting .305. However, on June 14th of that year, he was shot with a .22 caliber rifle in a Chicago, IL hotel by Ruth Ann Steinhagen, an obsessed teenage fan. After several operations to remove the bullet, he amazingly returned to baseball and was a key member of the Phillies' 1950 "Whiz Kids" team. Later in life, he worked summers at the Ted Williams baseball camp. Waitkus would serve as the inspiration for the Roy Hobbs character in "The Natural" and as such is an enduring legacy in Baseball history. SKU: L04441
Item: L04441
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