Waitkus saw some of the bloodiest fighting of World War II with the U.S. Army in the Philippines, and was awarded four Bronze Stars.

[2] Following the 1948 season, the Cubs traded Waitkus with Hank Borowy to the Philadelphia Phillies for Monk Dubiel and Dutch Leonard.

Just a few years into the start of what seemed a very promising career, Ruth Ann Steinhagen, an obsessed fan, shot Waitkus at Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel on June 14, 1949,[3] in one of the earliest recognized cases of criminal stalking.

[4] Waitkus was taken to the Illinois Masonic Hospital,[8] where he nearly died several times on the operating table before the bullet was successfully removed.

[12] Waitkus returned to play in the 1950 season as the leadoff hitter for the Whiz Kids team that won the 1950 National League pennant.

[16] Following his baseball career, Waitkus worked in trucking in Buffalo, New York, and later as a manager at a department store in Waltham, Massachusetts.

However, it is unclear if Malamud was solely inspired by the shooting of Waitkus, or if he also borrowed from the life of Cubs shortstop Billy Jurges, who was shot by his ex-girlfriend in 1932 at the Chicago hotel in which they lived.