The Natural with Robert Redford, great movie, I've heard from several people, that the movie is based on a real player or its a combination of stories of real players lumped into 1 story....I hear Jimmie Fox and Hank Greenberg's name come up a lot, anybody know if their any truth to this? What is the story behind Roy Hobbs?
2007-12-11 18:01:14 · 6 answers · asked by Gordito 2 in Sports ➔ Baseball
He is a fictional character who is probably a composite of any number of players. I know of no player who came up to the majors after 16 years out of the game. You have to understand that Redford is a great baseball fan and history buff. He's the kind of guy who fantasized about hitting that home run in the bottom of the ninth as a kid. Roy Hobbs is every baseball player a kid idolizes. Redford got the chance to bring them all to life. I like to think that every fan finds his own version of Roy Hobbs when they watch the story.
2007-12-11 18:29:49 · answer #1 · answered by Toodeemo 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This has been one on my favorite movies since I was eight. I have seen it hundreds of times.
Chip pretty much hit it right on the nose. Here are some extra tidbits...
Hobbs pitching prowess as a youngster was supposed to be comparable to Bob Feller.
The Whammer was obviously a Babe Ruth figure.
Bump's crash into the outfield wall was a tribute to the all out play of Pete Reiser of the Dodgers.
Gus may not have been based on one individual, but since baseball's early days until the sixties, there were several incidents involving players and gamblers.
The Judge also could have been based on owners in the past that allowed outside forces to influence their baseball decisions.
2007-12-12 01:19:19 · answer #2 · answered by David M 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Malamud based some parts of the story on real events, but mainly it's a modern version of Arthurian legend. Hobbs is part Arthur, part Lancelot, part Galahad (ever wonder why the team is called the Knights?). He is the anointed one, the leader with the invincible weapon, who is destined to take his followers to the promised land (or, in the novel, fail because of his own flaws).
The shooting incident was based upon what happened to Eddie Waitkus, who was with the Phillies in 1949 when a deranged fan shot him. He survived, missed the rest of the season, and made a comeback the next year and played until 1955.
Hobbs' hitting ability is basically Ted Williams. His appetite, Ruth. There's bits and pieces from other players if one wants to think so, but Hobbs is a fictional character drawn partly from real life, partly from imagination.
Waitkus' bio in the BR.com wiki: http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/Eddie_Waitkus
2007-12-11 18:36:43 · answer #3 · answered by Chipmaker Authentic 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The Natural is a 1952 novel about baseball written by Bernard Malamud. The book follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked when he is shot by a crazed fan. Most of the story concerns itself with his attempts to return to baseball later in life, when he plays for the fictional New York Knights with his legendary bat 'Wonderboy'. No mention any real players
2007-12-11 18:32:37 · answer #4 · answered by Danny B 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's a fable, but here's the twist: in the book, Hobbs takes the money and dumps the championship game. Director Barry Levinson wasn't anxious to have that version on screen, so he switched the ending around.
I was in the park for the final home run scene's filming, with fireworks going off at 4 a.m. It's a lovely baseball fable.
2007-12-12 16:33:43 · answer #5 · answered by wdx2bb 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What they said above is true Hobs is a combination of many players..
as for the owner it was representaive of Charles Comisky the tight fisted owner of the White Sox..mainly the bribing part is part of the Black Sox Scandle
2007-12-12 01:47:05 · answer #6 · answered by nas88car300 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋