{"product_id":"baseballs-natural-the-story-of-eddie-waitkus-9780803259584","title":"Baseball's Natural: The Story of Eddie Waitkus","description":"\u003ci\u003eBaseball's Natural\u003c\/i\u003e is John Theodore's true account of the slick-fielding first baseman who played for the Cubs and the Phillies in the 1940s and became immortalized in baseball lore as the inspiration for Bernard Malamud's The Natural. Eddie Waitkus grew up in Boston and fought in the Pacific theater in World War II. Following the war, Waitkus became one of the most popular players of his era. In 1949, with his career on the rise, his life changed dramatically in a Chicago hotel when a nineteen-year-old shot him in the chest. Waitkus's dramatic recovery the next year inspired his teammates as the Phillies won the National League pennant. Although Waitkus survived the shooting, he could never outlive it. \u003cp\u003eThrough interviews with Waitkus's family, fellow servicemen, former ballplayers, and childhood friends, and aided by fifteen photographs, Theodore chronicles Waitkus's remarkable comeback as well as the difficult years following his Major League career.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNative Chicagoan John Theodore has served as a reporter, writer, editor, and television and radio producer. Ira Berkow is a sports columnist for the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e and the author of \u003ci\u003eTo the Hoop: Seasons of a Basketball Life\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCourt Vision: Unexpected Views on the Lure of Basketball\u003c\/i\u003e, available in a Bison Books edition.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bison Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50845319856402,"sku":"9780803259584","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_eb9bb56c-a57b-4dde-8032-151316562d46.jpg?v=1737348021","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/baseballs-natural-the-story-of-eddie-waitkus-9780803259584","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}