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If you have a story relating to Eddie Waitkus
please submit it
HERE.
Please include your Name, City, State and Email Address
" He
was the epitome of grace"
"I spent many a happy day at Shibe Park, loved the Whiz Kids,
and Eddie was my favorite player. He was the epitome of grace at 1st base,
just the greatest. It was such a tragic thing that happened to him."
Diane Muller - Bucks Co., Pennsylvania 06/09/03
"Not
only was he a damned good ball player but he was a terrific guy"
"I was working as
a bell captain in a Philadelphia hotel called Chancellor Hall when I
first met Eddie, he was living there during the season. We became friendly
and occasionally go out for a beer and talk about baseball and girls.. I
remember he roomed with Bill Nicholson, I was only about 19 and they used to
kid me about my girl friends. He became my all time favorite ball player,
not only was he a damned good ball player but he was a terrific guy. He and
Nick used to kid about having to wait until they were old timers to become
WHIZ KIDS."
Bud Sherlock - Fernandina Beach, Florida 05/05/03
"I remember talking to Eddie at Braves Field in 1947"
"Eddie Waitkus played semi pro ball in
Lisbon Falls, Maine. When he was still in high school. he played for the
Worumbo Indians. This team finished seventh one year and eleventh another at
the Wichita, Ks. national tournament. The team was sponsored by the Worumbo
Mills Makers of Fine Woolens. My father, Oliver Moses, was president. My
brother and myself were batboys. We both remember Eddie well. I later played
pro ball in the Boston Braves minor league system and I remember talking to
Eddie at Braves Field in 1947 when he was with the Cubs and was about to
sign with the braves. In 1953 I talked to Eddie in Waycross, Ga. while I was
with the Jacksonville team of the Sally League and Philadelphia was playing
an exhibition game on the way home to start the season. Eddie was well liked
in Lisbon Falls and remembered. I have a picture of Eddie when he played for
Worumbo. My brother remembers being with our father when he drove to Melrose
Ma. to drive Eddie to Maine"
Richard Moses - Roswell, Georgia
11/21/02
"He had such a beautiful swimmer's build"
I served with Eddie during World War II with the
4th Engineer Special Brigade in the South Pacific. As a catcher, I
played three games against his battalion team. Once I was directly in back
of him in the chow line and I remember he had such a beautiful swimmer's
build (we were usually shirtless). I regret I never spoke with him.
Pete Costulas - Fairfield, Connecticut. 10/21/02
"He is as of now in my
personal Baseball Hall of Fame"
I grew up in Chicago, Il. during the
mid fifties and mid sixties before moving back to Mexico City with my
parents.
Until this day I'm a loyal Cubs fan. When the movie The Natural was
released, it became one of my baseball movie favorites. I have to admit that
until today, I had always thought that it was just a movie. Finding out that
it was inspired by a true baseball player has had great impact on me. I have
the movie at home and I will surely see it again. I'm sure I will enjoy
watching the movie again, but now with a different perspective. What thrills
me the most is that my heart will watch it with true joy because it will
capture again the love for the game that I'm sure Eddie Waitkus had.
He is as of now in my personal Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jesųs Sānchez - Mexico City,
Mexico 06/29/02
"Waite Hoyt told many interesting stories during rain
delays"
"I was born in 1935, and grew up in
the Cincinnati area. I listened to the
Reds play on the radio, and their wonderful announcer Waite Hoyt told many
interesting stories during rain delays, and one of them was about Eddie
Waitkus. I did not know he inspired the movie The Natural, which is
one of my
all time favorite movies."
Jim Nolan - Gulfport,
Mississippi 05/12/2002
"My father took me to many games at Shibe Park"
"I moved to suburban Philadelphia in
1947 when I was beginning first grade. I had learned baseball from my
grandfather in Bennington, Vermont, where the old Northern League had a
minor league team. Players who came out of that league include Chuck Connors
and Robin Roberts. My father took me to many games at Shibe Park, and I can
still name the entire starting lineup of the 1950 Whiz Kids."
Reg Jones - Bennington, Vermont
05/06/2002
"I cried a lot of tears over Eddie Waitkus"
"I was a 12-year-old kid in 1949, an
avid Phillies fan, and Eddie Waitkus was my favorite ballplayer. When news
came of the shooting in Chicago, I pulled out Eddie's "Exhibit" card and
propped it up on my dresser where it stayed for months, until he was back
with the team. (I had mixed emotions over that picture, because it showed
him in a Cubs uniform.) In the first days after the shooting, I cried a lot
of tears over Eddie Waitkus -- he was at the center of what was probably the
first real emotional crisis of my youth. I've always felt that Eddie
deserved a much better deal than he got from life."
Larry Palletti - Atlanta, Georgia
03/17/2002
"I remember how surreal it seemed"
"As a young boy growing up in Iowa, I
remember Eddie Waitkus as a member of the Chicago Cubs, and how their
play-by-play broadcaster--Bert Wilson--vividly described his talents and
play. I remember how surreal it seemed when I read the June 15, 1949 Sports
Section of the DES MOINES REGISTER to learn than he had been shot by,
as it turned out, a deranged admirer."
Bill Morrow - Williamsburg,
Virginia 02/17/2002
"Who knows what people
would say about him if he had played in New York"
"As a youngster of 11 years old, my
older brother and I spent our summers about a mile from Shibe Park and would
go to games at least once a week. The summer of 1950 found us as great fans
of the Whiz Kids. What Eddie Waitkus brought to that team was a maturity and
finesse around first base that even at that age was quite apparent to me.
The Phils had a young, erratic and inexperienced infield of Mike Goliat,
Granny Hamner, and Willie Jones. The left side of the infield while talented
made many a bad throw in the direction of 1st base. Waitkus' ability to dig
throws out of the dirt, his amazing ability to do splits on his stretch were
just awe inspiring. We would go home and try to imitate what he did, but to
no avail. And this was just one summer after having been shot.
Everyone talked about the great
fielding of Gil Hodges in those days, but Waitkus was just in a class of his
own. Who knows what people would say about him if he had played in New York.
The other side of his game that I
recall, was that he just hardly ever would strike out. He usually made
contact and just hit line drives between the infield and outfield.
Eddie Waitkus was just a steady,
steady ball player with outstanding talent. I still think of him as the best
First baseman that I have ever seen.....and I'm in my 60's."
Frank Landrum - Eugene, Oregon
01/19/02
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