[Mick]

Malamud based the first part of his story on the shooting of Eddie Waitkus by an obsessed female fan. The Philly first baseman had come up with the Cubs and was called by some writers a natural. The woman fantasized about him and followed him to Philadelphia and checked into his hotel. She left an emergency message asking him to come to her room where she shot him with a .22. He was near death but was saved by quick medical work. Voted comeback player of the year he returned to the Phils in 1950 where as a leadoff hitter he was one of the leaders of the pennant winning team. The woman was confined to the cracker factory for a bit but was never charged in the shooting. One of the first instances of celebrity stalking.

Right, I'd heard that story and it seemed like a natural fit (pun intended), but Malamud never admitted to Ruth Ann's shooting of Eddie Waitkus as the inspiration, in fact, Malamud specifically said it was not based on any Chicago, Philadelphia or New York event.  Apart from the fact that both were shot by women in a hotel, there are no other real similarities.  Waitkus was an intelligent, 29 year old WWII veteran who spoke four languages fluently when he was shot in Chicago's Beachwater Hotel, the fictional Roy Hobbs was a 17 year old phenom who was likely based on Bob Feller.  Waitkus had almost no power, just 24 HRs in his big league career, Hobbs was a home run hitting machine.  Whammer Wambold was obviously Babe Ruth.  In the book, Hobbs strikes out Wambold.  In real life, Feller struck out eight St. Louis Cardinals in an exhibition.  The older Hobbs in general was thought to be based on Shoeless Joe Jackson. 

https://www.si.com/mlb/strike-zone/2013/...steinhagen

What was perhaps a closer match was the shooting of Chicago Cubs shortstop Billy Juerges, who was romantically linked with Violet Valli, the showgirl who shot him -- with a handgun, same as in the book -- at the Vin a Chicago hotel.  Juerges had just turned 24 at that time.
http://sabr.org/research/show-girl-and-s...lly-jurges

A lot of writers casually assumed that the inspiration of The Natural was the Waitkus shooting.  Malamud never spoke of it publicly and only rarely spoke of it privately.  When he did speak publicly of it, he stated that he was a Brooklyn Dodger fan, and the Brooklyn team was his inspiration.  The closest to public commentary was perhaps the Arthur Daley column in the New York Times in which Malamud said, "I wanted to explore what happens when a talented man sells out."

Pac-12 connection: Malamud moved from New York City to Corvallis and wrote the bulk of The Natural as a professor at Oregon State University.  He did end up publicly admitting to the Feller, Jackson and Ruth connections, and he also invoked Sal Maglie and Ted Williams.  Specifically, Feller's youthful innocence, Jackson's natural but corruptible talent, Williams' hostility and pride and Ruth's hungry prowess.  Hobbs wants to be the "best that ever was" and also like Williams, wears number nine.  Like Maglie, he was ostracized from professional American baseball for years, then returns in the twilight of his career.

The real Philadelphia connection is that the Phils were the competing team for a number of the important contests in the book.
https://sabr.org/research/eddie-waitkus-...-what-fact

[Mick]

Malamud based the first part of his story on the shooting of Eddie Waitkus by an obsessed female fan. The Philly first baseman had come up with the Cubs and was called by some writers a natural. The woman fantasized about him and followed him to Philadelphia and checked into his hotel. She left an emergency message asking him to come to her room where she shot him with a .22. He was near death but was saved by quick medical work. Voted comeback player of the year he returned to the Phils in 1950 where as a leadoff hitter he was one of the leaders of the pennant winning team. The woman was confined to the cracker factory for a bit but was never charged in the shooting. One of the first instances of celebrity stalking.

Right, I'd heard that story and it seemed like a natural fit (pun intended), but Malamud never admitted to Ruth Ann's shooting of Eddie Waitkus as the inspiration, in fact, Malamud specifically said it was not based on any Chicago, Philadelphia or New York event.  Apart from the fact that both were shot by women in a hotel, there are no other real similarities.  Waitkus was an intelligent, 29 year old WWII veteran who spoke four languages fluently when he was shot in Chicago's Beachwater Hotel, the fictional Roy Hobbs was a 17 year old phenom who was likely based on Bob Feller.  Waitkus had almost no power, just 24 HRs in his big league career, Hobbs was a home run hitting machine.  Whammer Wambold was obviously Babe Ruth.  In the book, Hobbs strikes out Wambold.  In real life, Feller struck out eight St. Louis Cardinals in an exhibition.  The older Hobbs in general was thought to be based on Shoeless Joe Jackson. 

https://www.si.com/mlb/strike-zone/2013/...steinhagen

What was perhaps a closer match was the shooting of Chicago Cubs shortstop Billy Juerges, who was romantically linked with Violet Valli, the showgirl who shot him -- with a handgun, same as in the book -- at the Vin a Chicago hotel.  Juerges had just turned 24 at that time.
http://sabr.org/research/show-girl-and-s...lly-jurges

A lot of writers casually assumed that the inspiration of The Natural was the Waitkus shooting.  Malamud never spoke of it publicly and only rarely spoke of it privately.  When he did speak publicly of it, he stated that he was a Brooklyn Dodger fan, and the Brooklyn team was his inspiration.  The closest to public commentary was perhaps the Arthur Daley column in the New York Times in which Malamud said, "I wanted to explore what happens when a talented man sells out."

Pac-12 connection: Malamud moved from New York City to Corvallis and wrote the bulk of The Natural as a professor at Oregon State University.  He did end up publicly admitting to the Feller, Jackson and Ruth connections, and he also invoked Sal Maglie and Ted Williams.  Specifically, Feller's youthful innocence, Jackson's natural but corruptible talent, Williams' hostility and pride and Ruth's hungry prowess.  Hobbs wants to be the "best that ever was" and also like Williams, wears number nine.  Like Maglie, he was ostracized from professional American baseball for years, then returns in the twilight of his career.

The real Philadelphia connection is that the Phils were the competing team for a number of the important contests in the book.
https://sabr.org/research/eddie-waitkus-...-what-fact