Eddie Waitkus received a note, while staying at a Chicago hotel in June 1949, from a deranged stalker asking to meet him regarding an important matter. Having no idea of the person in question, Waiktus, a major league baseball player, asked the front desk about who had checked into the room mentioned in the note. When he learned it was a lady, he made the decision to knock on her door. It would be a life changing event.
The first basemen from the Philadelphia Phillies, was invited into Ruth Ann Steinhagen’s hotel room. After entering, the obsessed nineteen year old shot Waitkus with a rifle, and had planned to kill him and then take her own life. Steinhagen, who would be judged insane, had lost the nerve to end her own life, as a suicide note was found in the trash can. A shocked Waiktus would later remark that she was apparently not a Phillies fan.
It would be learned that Steinhagen had been infatuated with Waitkus for two years. She would leave a place for him at her dinner table, and collected news-clippings and photos of Waitkus. It wasn’t just about meeting the ballplayer, Steinhagen fantasied about killing Waiktus. Waitkus was shot in the chest, and suffered a collapse lung. He spent a month in the hospital, requiring three operations.
Remarkably, not only did Waiktus make a full recovery, he returned as a baseball player. The former rookie of the year and all star player, was traded by the Cubs to Philadelphia. The popular left-hander had previously paused his career when he was drafted during World War II. Waitkus was awarded four Bronze Stars for his heroic battlefield experience. The Waiktus story is truly extraordinary, and Theodore’s research is meticulous. I highly recommend this audiobook.
By: John Theodore
Narrated by: Kevin Young
Length: 5 hrs and 41 mins
Release date: 11-10-12
