Natural Causes

Ruth Ann Steinhagen, who lived out every Phillies’ fan’s dream by getting to shoot one of the miserable, stinking bums, has died at the age of 83. In 1947, the then-17 year old became obsessed with Chicago Cubs first baseman Eddie Waitkus, Cubs’ fandom being people’s exhibit #1 that she was a bit unhinged, building the kind of shrine now regularly seen on Criminal Minds and setting an empty place across from herself at dinner as though he was Elijah in batting gloves. After the 1948 season, Waitkus got traded from the 8th place Cubs to the 6th place Phillies. Just when he thought things were looking up, the Phillies came to Chicago to play the Cubs, and Steinhagen invited Waitkus to her hotel room. Displaying the kind of reflexes common to the stalwarts of the first franchise to lose 10,000 games, after Waitkus entered the room, Steinhagen had time to retrieve a .22 rifle, aim and fire, hitting him in the chest. She spent 3 years in an asylum before being released. Waitkus declined to press charges, and Steinhagen slipped into obscurity. Except for the Bernard Malamud novel with a similar plot, published in 1952. Or the 1984 film based on it.