In this scene from the film Roy Hobbs strikes out the Whammer who is an obvious stand in for the Babe. There are many legends of the Babe being struck out by this guy or that guy when he barnstormed across America to make money between baseball seasons. They are all bullshit. Don't get me wrong. They might have struck out the Babe buy he might have been drunk or hung over or his penis might have been burning because of his ninety seventh case of the clap that year. So they might have got him here or there but there is one thing that you can't ever forget.
There was only one Babe.
The story of the Natural was based on an actual case of the Eddie Waitkus who was shot by a deranged female fan on June 14, 1949. She lured him up to her hotel room by leaving a note pretending to be a high school girlfriend. He survived and played again for the Phillies and Orioles but he never was what he once was before he got shot. He later died of throat cancer from all the cigarettes he had smoked.
Bernard Malamud stole his life for the story behind the Natural. He never got a dime for it.
1 comment:
I did not know that.
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