I thought his playing ability seemed like Mickey Mantle.
His fame mixed with betting on baseball felt like Shoeless Joe.
And if you've ever read Casey at the Bat, it is somewhat like that for the ending of the BOOK not the FILM.
What MLB do you find him similar as?
"I goddamn near lost my nose. And I like it. I like breathing through it."
Robert Redford always had high respect for Ted Williams, so I see some of of Ted in the character of Roy Hobbes.
Also, Ted Williams expected himself to become the greatest hitter of all-time... And to this day he is remembered as maybe the best all-around hitter ever in major league history. Clearly Ted Williams inspired Hobbs' character.
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Are you not entertained? *Are* you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?
Williams was also away from the game during military service in both WW2 and Korea- missing a total of almost 5 years. He won the batting triple crown both in 1942 just before WW2 service and after in 1947. Yeah he was pretty good, almost Hobbs-ian.
shareEddie Waitkus, who played for the Phillies, as well as other teams, was shot by a stalker named Ruth Steinhagen(?) in 1949 or 1950 in Chicago. I remember reading that he almost died on the operating table, but pulled through and played for a few more seasons, although he was never the same.
shareThat is damn good.
shareFor a modern comparison, look at the story of Josh Hamilton.
My work is personal/ I put in work/ I work with purpose
Joe Mauer.
shareHow are they comparable? Joe Mauer has never gone through any hardships. He's always been top of his class in both baseball and football and was the number one pick in the baseball draft. Since then he's won tons of accolades.
My work is personal/ I put in work/ I work with purpose
Roy Hobbs: And then? And then when I walked down the street people would've looked and they would've said there goes Roy Hobbs, the best there ever was in this game.
That's Ted Williams
The attempted bribery, that's Joe Jackson, or what we wish Joe Jackson was (turning it down)
The attempted murder, that's Ed Waitkus
The pitcher/outfielder combo, that's Babe Ruth (Rick Ankiel has done it since, although not nearly as effectively)
The story pulls a number of elements from baseball's history.
As for resembling today's players? No one is even close, going out of baseball, coming back and making the big leagues at 35 and being a major star? That's unprecedented. And the poster with the Wade Boggs/Ichiro comparison is out of his gourd. Those are singles hitters, Hobbs was a pure slugger who struck out quite a bit (as alot of sluggers are wont to do).
Good post, it's obvious that Hobbs is a fictional compilation of several actual baseball players from yesteryear. Redford has said that he was a big Ted Williams fan and modeled his Hobbs stance and swing on him, along with what Ted said himself on wanting to be known as the best player there ever was.
share[deleted]
I think he's very similar to Josh Hamilton. Highly touted prospect meets some difficulty that forces him out of the game. He comes back as an older rookie and just dominates. Josh Hamilton's HR Derby performance at Yankee Stadium was something Hobbs would've done.
"Alexei... YES! YES! YES! YES! YES! HISTORY!" - Hawk Harrelson's call of Buehrle's perfect game.
For one brief shining moment in October 1988, Kirk Gibson was the full embodiment of Roy Hobbs!
It is without a doubt, the greatest Hobbsian moment in the history of baseball!
Brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
Let's just say that God doesn't believe in me.
Yeah I second Gibson Hobbling around the bases
shareI think Ted Williams. And being the oldest rookie is like Satchel Paige.
I once saw Andre Dawson actually hit one into the lights. It was the first night they had lights at Wrigley Field. No fireworks, though, and they were independently wired, they didn't all explode. If you want to see exploding scoreboards and things you have to get in a time machine and go back to Old Comiskey.
Let's just say that God doesn't believe in me.
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I think you're all correct in that Roy Hobbs is an amalgamation of many players and things that happened to them. I did hear Redford say, though, that he made Hobbs #9 for Ted Williams, and the fact that he's a left-handed hitter is also Williams-ian. So, he's all those other players, to be sure, but on the field, I think he's more Ted Williams than anyone. And then there's that comment about bei ng the best hitter that was mentioned earlier.
"How do you feel?"
"Like the Kling-Klang King of the Rim-Ram Room!"
Reggie Jackson
shareWhat other ball player went from being a star pitcher (for the Red Sox) to the major league home run leader (for the Yankees) but Babe Ruth?
sharethat would work if there weren't a character in the movie who was already incredibly similar to Ruth (The Whammer). They did make him a righty, but maybe they just wanted to remind you that it wasn't actually Ruth.
shareAs has been mentioned about a half dozen times or so in this thread Hobbs is an amalgamation of many ballplayers, Babe Ruth included. To recap:
Shoeless Joe Jackson: Bribe, or attempted bribe (book vs. film), to throw a big game (or Series, as it were).
Babe Ruth: Left-handed pitcher of incredible talent converted to power-hitting, left-handed rightfielder of incredible talent
Ted Williams: #9 wearing, left-handed hitting, superstar batter, who wished that when people would see him walking down the street, they would say: "That's Roy Hobbs (Ted Williams), the best (hitter) there ever was."
Eddie Waitkus: Career ruined/"sidetracked" after being shot by a deranged female fan.
Maybe there are even others, but these are the most obvious.
I never knew a man
could tell so many lies
He had a different story
for every set of eyes
pablo sandoval
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