Ruth Ann Steinhagen

Ruth Ann Steinhagen (born Ruth Catherine Steinhagen; December 23, 1929 – December 29, 2012) was an American woman who shot and nearly killed Eddie Waitkus, star first baseman of the Philadelphia Phillies, on June 14, 1949, in one of the first instances of what later became known as stalker crimes.

Accounts vary as to when that was: a report in The Miami News the day after the shooting stated she first saw him play on July 7, 1946; a 1949 Time magazine article said she had seen him play "near the end of the 1946 season"; and John Theodore's 2002 biography of Waitkus indicates she later told her doctor she first saw him play on April 27, 1947.

While she never actually met him during that time, at home she created a "shrine" to Waitkus with hundreds of photographs and newspaper clippings, often spreading them out and looking at them for hours, according to her mother.

She would even set an empty place across from her at dinner for Waitkus.

Since the ballplayer was from the Boston area, she developed a craving for baked beans, and, because Waitkus was of Lithuanian descent, she even studied Lithuanian for a time.

She told her doctors, after the incident, "I used to go to all the ball games to watch him. We used to wait for them to come out of the clubhouse after the game, and all the time I was watching I was building in my mind that idea of killing him."

She graduated from Jones Commercial High School in 1947, where she studied stenography.

A 19-year-old typist at the time of the incident, Steinhagen had developed an obsession with Eddie Waitkus after seeing him play as first baseman with the Chicago Cubs.

In 1948, Steinhagen's family sent her to a psychiatrist, but her obsession didn't diminish, even after Waitkus was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies.

After the shooting, police found extensive clippings in her suitcase and even pictures papering the ceiling of her bedroom.

On June 14, 1949, the Phillies came to Chicago to face the Cubs; Waitkus played in the game, recording a hit and scoring two runs.

The incident is one of the inspirations for the 1952 baseball book The Natural, made into a 1984 film.

Steinhagen was the daughter of parents who had emigrated from Berlin, Germany, in their early 20s.

Born Ruth Catherine Steinhagen, she adopted the middle name Ann at some point in her youth.

When she was a child, Steinhagen’s family moved to Lincoln Park, Chicago.

A 2001 Chicago Sun-Times story claims that Steinhagen said, "You're not going to bother me anymore."

Waitkus, who later said he believed the woman was joking, stood and was shot.

He said he asked her, as she knelt beside his prone body with her hand on his, "Oh, baby, what did you do that for?"

Steinhagen indicated that she had planned to stab him, and use the gun to shoot herself, but changed her plans when he quickly took a seat.

Steinhagen still intended to shoot herself, but evidently could not find another bullet.

While Waitkus was lying on the floor bleeding from the chest, Steinhagen called down to the front desk of the hotel and told them "I just shot a man ..."

Thereafter, according to a report the following day in The Miami News, she went to wait for them on the benches near the elevator; however, a much later article in The Washington Times indicates she held Waitkus' head on her lap until help arrived.

According to Waitkus' friend and roommate, Russ Meyer, Waitkus received the note, which was affixed to the door of their 9th-floor room, after 11:00 p.m., having been out to dinner with Meyer's family and fiancée.

Waitkus called the room but the woman would not discuss the details over the phone.

According to Meyer, Waitkus believed the note was from a friend of Ruth Ann Burns, a woman whom he was dating.

The Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail says Waitkus knew some people named Burns.

For whatever reason, he went to meet her in the room.

There is variance in the details of what happened in the room.

According to an Associated Press report released the day after the shooting, Steinhagen told police that she told Waitkus when he entered, "I have a surprise for you," before retrieving a .22 caliber rifle (reported as a bolt-action Remington model 510) from the closet and shooting him in the chest.

Meyer said that Waitkus told him that when he entered the room, the woman he met claimed to be a friend of Ruth Ann's, introducing herself as Mary Brown, and saying that Ruth Ann would be returning to the room immediately.

He said that Waitkus claimed Steinhagen's words after retrieving the gun from the closet were "If I can't have you, nobody else can."

After the game, which she attended, Steinhagen sent Waitkus a handwritten note through a bellboy, inviting him to visit her in her 12th floor room in the Edgewater Beach Hotel where they were both registered.

Claiming to be "Ruth Anne Burns," Waitkus opened her note:

"Mr. Waitkus–

It's extremely important that I see you as soon as possible

We're not acquainted, but I have something of importance to speak to you about I think it would be to your advantage to let me explain it to you"

After insisting that she was leaving the hotel the next day and pressing the timeliness of the request, she concluded:

"I realize this is a little out of the ordinary, but as I said, it's rather important

Please, come soon.

I won't take up much of your time, I promise"