The Unnatural Shooting of Eddie Waitkus

Ruth Ann Steinhagen, who was an office typist
Went to a baseball game at Wrigley Field
With a couple of her girlfriends, it was innocent enough
Ruth Ann’s future though that day would be revealed
Some girls she didn’t know were yelling, «Hey you, funny face»
To a player who was within shouting distance
And there stood her Adonis in the form of Eddie Waitkus
Who was blissfully unaware of her existence
It was April 27th of 1947
Ruth Ann blew a circuit in her brain
The 27th of every month would be the anniversary
Of the time she first saw Eddie Waitkus play
Every Saturday & Sunday she would ride the El to Wrigley
Sit halfway up the line behind first base
Cause that was his position and those were the closest seats
Where she could have the best view of his face
Ruth Ann collected articles & photographs of Eddie
She slept with pictures of him in her head
She learned some Lithuanian, to better understand his roots
Made a shrine to him beside her bed
Ruth Ann’s world was shattered the day Eddie was traded
To Philadelphia & for many days she cried
She wrote him letters often and she phoned & left him messages
But never once did she get a reply
On the north side of Chicago, the Edgewater Beach Hotel
When the Phillies came to town that’s where they stayed
Ruth Ann made her reservation a month ahead of time
On her calendar she ticked off every day
A room service daiquiri & a couple of whiskey sours
All three of which she nervously consumed
While waiting up for Eddie who was out late having dinner
After starring in the game that afternoon
Ruth Ann bribed a bell hop to leave a note for Eddie
Urging him to come up to her room
1297-A, Ruth Ann wrote on hotel stationary
That had the faintest trace of her perfume
«It's extremely important I see you as soon as possible…
It would be to your advantage to let me explain»
It was very nearly midnight and the Phillies had a curfew
Eddie just kept staring at the name
Ruth Ann was the same name of the woman Eddie dated
But what on earth would she be doing in town?
She surely would’ve phoned first before coming to Chicago
Eddie rang the elevator down
A tall girl answered the door, said Ruth Ann stepped out for a minute
Eddie sat down by the window in a chair
Ruth Ann said, «I've got a surprise for you» — it was a pawn shop rifle
Eddie stood up & said «Baby, what have you got there?»
«Baby, why’d you do it?» asked a bleeding Eddie Waitkus
Over him a lifeless Ruth Ann stood
«You've been bothering me for two years,» Ruth Ann said to Eddie
«And if I couldn’t have you then nobody could»
Ruth Ann phoned the desk clerk to say she had shot Eddie
That’s probably why he didn’t bleed to death
«Baby, why’d you do it?» he kept asking from the stretcher
Struggling for every precious breath
Ruth Ann told the detectives how she’d planned on stabbing Eddie
And how then she would’ve taken her own life
But when Eddie sat down in the chair a stabbing was impossible
So she used the rifle instead of the knife
Ruth Ann did three years in a mental institution
They set her free when they said she was cured
And after four operations Eddie Waitkus did recover
At least you see his name in all the old boxscores
But Eddie took to drinking…
He turned into an angry man
People often wondered, and there were a bunch of rumors
Just how well he knew that crazy star-struck fan