Fritz Peterson, pitcher for the New York Yankees, had the lowest ERA in Yankee stadium history. His ERA at the stadium was a remarkable 2.52, making him the best pitcher in the stadium ever, and even better than Whitey Ford, who had an ERA of 2.55.
Fritz was also the last starting pitcher for the Yanks in the last game of the original Yankee stadium before the renovations in 1973.
Fritz Peterson also had the best control of any pitcher in baseball between the '68 and '72 seasons with a 1.23 avg in walks per game—very impressive.
Mike Kekich, on the other hand, was not a great pitcher by any means. His career record was below .500 at 39-51.
Well, Fritzi old boy and his gumba Mike were very close pals, to say the least (which I won't). Off the field they spent a lot of quality time with their wives. Up and down, down and up, they would meet and come up with a bunch of fun stuff to do.
- B/R Ticket Guide
What no one knew at the time was that Susan and Marilyn (their wives) were not enjoying just a Sunday afternoon sausage off the barbecue.
In fact, they decided not only to (censored) each others wives, but to swap their mates, their houses, their children, and even their house pets (dogs and cats). As Mell Allen would say, "How do you like that?" I'll even throw in there a Rizzuto: "Holy cow what huckleberries."
They didn't just swap their wives. They swapped each other's whole lives. Ralph Houk, the Yankees manager at the time said, "If you're not happy, why go through life unhappy. You only live once." Ralph was right. You do only live once, so enjoy it while you can.
Well, things turned out much better for Fritz than it did for Mike. Fritz is still married to Susan after that event 35 years ago. They had four kids together. Currently, he is an evangelist, of all things.
Mike and Marilyn, however, separated just four months after that face-off rerun.
Bowie Kuhn, commissioner of baseball at the time had this to say: "I received more mail about these four than I did about starting the DH."
This was such big news at the time that Dr. Joyce Brothers would comment on the subject all the time. "It's very rare that a four-way swap ever works."
One good thing about all these shenanigans was the fact that Fritz was traded to Cleveland for none other than Chris Chambliss, one of the reasons that I follow the Yankees today.
The reason he was traded was because after the swap, Fritz never pitched the same again.
My name is Joseph Jove. Was it good for you, too?
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about 1 month ago
i NEVER KNEW HOW GOOD OF A PITCHER FRITZ WAS OR THAT HE WAS SO KINKY.
about 1 month ago
Soraya, Fritz was a top notch pitcher, and had several notches in his little black book too.
about 1 month ago
"Things" generally tend to get WORSE...
...before they get better!
(Sounds like a fortune cookie, ...right?)
about 1 month ago
i am absolutely shocked to discover this about pastor fritz. makes me think twice about huggin him every sunday after the sermon, ya know?
hehehe
from about 1 month ago
Yes Kat, that wasn't a bible in his pocket that you felt.
about 1 month ago
LOL.
guess i shouldn't consult him over SPEAKING IN TONGUES?
from about 1 month ago
I didn't know you west coast girls had so much wit ( your the Kat's meow ).
from about 1 month ago
joe im soraya, i think your real hot. i travel to new york all the time.
about 1 month ago
wit is as wit does, joey. soraya thinks your real hot. maybe you need an aspirin? oven mits? new thermostat?
i still can't believe they didn't offer abreu arbitration. who's gonna be afraid of all the walls NOW?
and whuttup with plaxico all shootin himself in the leg? why couldn't it have been schilling? or beckett? god...the photoshop possibilities...damn...
from about 1 month ago
No need for oven mits to handle her, she will be a frozen sculpture if she wears that dental floss in my neck of the woods, I'll take the aspirin though.
You know Kat, I believe Nady will do great in right field, we won't notice that Abreu is even gone even though I really liked Abreu.
I'll take a pass on Schilling bleeding from his leg area, remember in 2004?
Plaxico has plastic for membranes, What an idiot.
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