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Online now: 2 members: JohnO28, TABLE SETTER 11; 80 anonymousDiscussion: Is this story true ???
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| Jan. 11, 2009 Mighty Grip Men's 55 34 posts | Is this story true ??? I heard this story the other day and tried to look it up but could not find anything. The story goes that Ted Williams coach wanted him to sit the last game (or few) to keep his avg at 400 but Ted refused and played only to hit well and end up with a 406 avg. Can any of you baseball history buffs or research experts tell if this is true ??? Thanks for your help.... |
| Jan. 11, 2009 bogie Men's 65 448 posts | Having read 4 or 5 books on Ted Williams the story as I remember was his coach, I think it might have been Joe Cronin, offered to let him sit out the last day....a double header. Ted was batting .3995 which rounded up, would have been .400...ted did say he did not want to walk backwards into a .400 season and would play and let history tell the story. He walked around a good part of the night very nervous, but did perform well, going 6-8 the last game to finish .406. The movie and story the Natural was loosely based on Ted Williams. Ted had wished that he would break all the records that stood and that people would recongnicze him as the best there ever was.....he lost more than 5 of his prime years to world war 2 and the Korean war as a figher pilot...or he might have had all the records. |
| Jan. 11, 2009 Mighty Grip Men's 55 34 posts | That is just what I needed. Thank you so much for your help. Bill Gateley |
| Jan. 11, 2009 THE HI-JACKER 118 posts | BOOGIE: "Say it's not so, Joe." WRONG...... This is in spite of the fact that Malamud's novel ends with Roy Hobbs striking out, rather than hitting a home run. A young boy later approaches Hobbs, aware of speculation about gambling, and says, "Say it ain't true, Roy," a reference to Shoeless Joe Jackson and the Chicago White Sox throwing the 1919 World Series to gamblers. Roy's response to boy's imperative reads thusly: "When Roy looked into the boy's eyes he wanted to say it wasn't but couldn't, and he lifted his hands to his face and wept many bitter tears." This despondence contrasts sharply with the film's home run victory and familial denouement. Searching for the "real" Natural. THi-J |
| Jan. 11, 2009 THE HI-JACKER 118 posts | BOOGIE: " The Real Natural" Eddie Waitkus is the baseball player who inspired the movie, The Natural, starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs. This is a true story of a great baseball player, whose entire life is totally changed, because of an act of a single obsessed fan. An act that had never occurred to an athlete before, nor has it occurred since. In 1943 the Los Angeles Angels won a 104 games but finished second to Sacramento in the Pacific Coast League. Eddie Waitkus led the league that season with 235 hits and inspired many young boys to play America's pastime, baseball. During World War II, he won 4 Battle Stars and was wounded as an Amphibious Engineer Sergeant in the Pacific. Eddie Waitkus was a very smart man. He was offered scholarships to Holy Cross and Harvard, but passed them up so that he could play the sport he loved, professional baseball. In 1940 the Chicago chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) established an award recognizing the major leagues' top rookie. This award continued for six more years before going national. Eddie Waitkus received this award in 1946. Waitkus was a top defensive first baseman and left-handed line-drive hitter. He was one of the toughest men in the league to strike-out. He spent 11 years wearing a major league uniform. Although his numbers were not Hall of Fame numbers he did have a lifetime batting average of .285. On June 23, 1946 back-to-back inside-the-park home runs by Eddie Waitkus and Marv Rickert were a ML first. Then on August 24, 1947 Eddie hit an inside-the-park grand slam. Only six players have accomplished this since 1920. He was voted as the starting first baseman to the 1948 All-Star team. Then in December 1948 the Chicago Cubs traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies for Monk Dubiel and Dutch Leonard. In 1949, Eddie, was shot by a 6 ft blond, women, with a 22 rifle. Her name was Ruth Ann S. THi-J |
| Jan. 11, 2009 bogie Men's 65 448 posts | did he die from the shooting? what was the story on that! |
| Jan. 11, 2009 Ho 301 posts | no, he went on to star with Eddie Sawyer's 1950 Philadelphia Whiz kids. Continued with a good career into the 1950's HO |
