In January of 2020, I wrote an article spotlighting the amazing work of the sports cartoonist. I had recently worked with Rhode Island native and prolific sports cartoonist Frankie Galasso on a number of projects. Also, I had visited the lower level of Pawtucket’s McCoy Stadium, a long hallway which featured walls and walls of amazing sports cartoons from the Providence Journal and other local sports papers. For the article and my readers, I wanted to highlight how cool it was to experience a great sport cartoon, read the clever captions, and get the gist of a baseball play from just a brilliantly illustrated drawing.

Another huge inspiration for the article was drawn from my obsession of the movie, “The Natural.” In an early scene in “The Natural”, a fictional Roy Hobbs departs a train to face a fictional character known as the Whammer (loosely based on the real life Babe Ruth) in a pitcher vs hitter matchup. Also in the scene is one of the movie’s villians, sportswriter Max Mercy, who serves as the unofficial umpire for the matchup and later draws a cartoon depicting the encounter between “the kid nobody heard of” Roy Hobbs and the infamous Whammer. Before I get to Mercy’s illustration of the matchup, here is the scene in “The Natural” I was referring to. In my opinion, it is one of the most recognized and iconic baseball scenes in any baseball movie, ever.

So what did Max Mercy draw after Roy Hobbs whiffed The Whammer? First off, “The Natural” takes place around the early part of the 20th century. Back in those times, folks got their news primarily from newspapers as religiously as we get our news from our smartphones in 2024. The players departed a train for the hitting contest, that should also help you with the timeline of the movie. And their sports news came from writers like Max Mercy, who not only wrote the stories, they often drew out the action in a cartoon form for all to see and read about in the next day’s papers. Sure there was photography, but photography was still in its infancy in the early part of the 20th century. With the sports cartoon, a writer and sports cartoonist could take several personal liberties with the character’s appearance or the captions describing the action in the cartoon. The subject of the cartoon could be the hero or the goat of the story, famously explained by Mercy in the movie to Roy Hobbs in a later scene in the movie. For his own right, Max Mercy made a name for himself, good and bad, taking those kinds of liberties with the subjects he was writing about. He controlled the narrative of how the story was to be told and later published. Mercy would use this power in the film to try and influence players like Roy Hobbs to “see things his way.”

So, the famous movie cartoon in the movie drawn out by Max Mercy depicts the scene as it unfolded- a blazing pitch by Roy Hobbs and a mighty whiff by the Whammer for Strike 3 and you are out Whammer!!! For those of you unfamiliar with the cartoon from the movie, here it is, (please excuse the screen shot of my TV from my recent viewing of The Natural):

I was happy with the article and got some nice feedback from readers who enjoyed sports cartooning like I did. I was even happier when I received an email about the article from a person extremely close to the subject matter, namely the cartoon drawn in the movie “The Natural” that I had alluded to in my article. Here is a snippet of the email I received that really caught my attention:

“The Whammer and the other cartoons in the Natural were drawn by my father in 1984. He has the original reproductions… Anyway, he isn’t a cartoonist, at the time he was a commercial illustrator, and an amazing artist. Thanks for displaying the drawing in your article.”

Well, I jumped at the chance to respond to the email’s author, Peter Trondsen, and was eager to find out more about the illustrator of one of the most famous sports cartoons, his father. I couldn’t wait to meet (potentially) the man who drew Roy Hobbs and the Whammer and the other incredible sports cartoons in “The Natural.” And to do a little research myself on his father’s place in movie history and to see if maybe, just maybe I could get my eyes on the original work done for “The Natural.” The man, the illustrator, Max Mercy in the flesh, may I introduce to you Peter’s father – Robert Trondsen.

Peter was great. I sent him a number of emails about his father, his father’s work, “The Natural” sports cartoons, and how his father got involved with the film and production. So, I started from the beginning with his father’s background. Peter replied, “he started in Advertising, in the “Mad Man” era in the 1960s, and then became a full time Illustrator, and did work for editorial and other companies from the 1970s-1990s.” ‘And the movie, “The Natural”?’ I asked, ‘what was his role specifically.’ Peter responded, “In the movie ‘The Natural’ he did all the drawings for Max Mercy, played by Robert Duvall. I’m not sure if he did any other art for ‘The Natural’. He worked on several movies in addition to ‘The Natural’, including ‘Fatal Attraction’, ‘Wall Street’, ‘Kiss of Death’ and Woody Allen’s ‘Zelig’. The artwork from ‘Zelig’ is in the permanent collection of the Museum of the Moving Image in New York.” I finished our initial email conversation about his father’s current whereabouts and work situation. Peter emailed back, “He moved to the Hudson Valley in the mid-90s and became a landscape and still life painter. He still shows his work and has been in group shows, as well as one man shows. Here’s his (the link to his) website, if you want to see his work – Robert Trondsen.

So, at this point, I was over the top intrigued about learning more about the illustrator and genius behind one my favorite sports cartoons of all time. I wanted to pace myself with the questions and the pitch to see the original cartoon drawings by Mr. Trondsen. So, I decided to take a short break from communication and a peek at the movie credits online to see if Mr. Trondsen’s name was mentioned anywhere, to see if he received credit for the illustrations in “The Natural.” But, I was not able to find anything listed anywhere that credited Mr. Trondsen to the iconic movie cartoons. This brought me back to Peter and some additional questions about the work. With the blazing speed of a Roy Hobbs fastball, I fired off this line of questions to Peter:

How was your father chosen for the work on The Natural?  Was there a connection to the movie studio through his advertising work?  Can you tell me a little more about the process by which he came to draw those cartoons?  Was he given a script or did he have meetings with the writer on the characters he was to draw?  Did your father draw upon any personal remembrances or characterizations of players he idolized as a kid?  When the movie came out, and your father’s drawings were there on the screen, how did that moment feel?  After all, it is one of the most iconic baseball cartoons I have ever seen.  Did your father get to meet the two figures in the cartoon?  Joe Don Baker and Robert Redford?  Did the movie studio doctor it at all, or is the photo in the film the actual one your father drew?  

I didn’t want to miss a single detail of the story and Peter was up to the challenge of my fastball line of questions, drilling a line drive into the gap with a set of powerful answers. “So, he did a lot of work for a production designer named Mel Bourne in the 1980’s.” Peter continued, “and Mel contracted him to do the drawings for Max Mercy. My father and Mel Bourne copied the cells on copier and used magic markers to make them darker, as they needed to be darker for the camera to pick them up. As for me personally, it was an exciting time in his career and it was great for me as a kid and avid baseball fan to see his work on screen. According to my father, he never did get to meet Robert Redford. I can speak to my Dad and see if I can set up a time to chat or email with you to discuss further. I know he has the original reproductions of his drawings.” Those last few words jumped off the page – “I know he has the original reproductions of his drawings.”

And here they are…

Peter and I communicated a number of times via email before I had to ask a rather personal question about his father’s work. After all of my research online, I could not find a single notation about Robert Trondsen drawing or contributing or assisting anything for “The Natural,” and that bothered me. It bothered me because I feel he deserves some type of credit, a mention, a notation, a footnote somewhere in the credits of “The Natural” that he was the one, he was the real life Max Mercy drawing out those baseball scenes for Roy Hobbs, the NY Knights baseball club, the hero vs goat cartoons, the strikeout of The Whammer. So, I asked Peter, “does he, meaning your father, feel left out at all because of the lack of recognition?  Or does he feel that his work was recognized in a way he is comfortable with?” With humility and poise and with respect to his father, Peter answered, “while my father (Robert Trondsen) never got credits on ‘The Natural,’ it never bothered him. He’s a true artist and he was happy to work on an exciting project and contribute his art.”

Well, if I am the first or the 500th to credit him, so be it. Robert Trondsen is a living legend of baseball history and artistry in my opinion. A man who expertly illustrated and helped produce the sports cartoons in one of the greatest baseball movies of all time, “The Natural.” Robert’s work continued with contributions to films like ‘Fatal Attraction’, ‘Wall Street’, ‘Kiss of Death’ and Woody Allen’s ‘Zelig’. And Robert’s work continues to shine in his home state of New York where he is a landscape and still life painter. You can view his website, his biography, and his legacy of work by clicking this link – Robert Trondsen.

Huge thanks to Peter Trondsen for the great communication and insight on his father, Robert. Peter was patient with my persistence for the story and I cannot thank him enough for his engagement during this interview process. Peter, all the best to you.