They were all really close—maybe a bit too much in the end.
by Rich Watson
Fritz Peterson and Mike Kekich were Yankee pitchers in the late sixties and early seventies. The former had his best year in 1970, when he went 20-11 with a 2.90 earned run average. The latter was less distinguished; he had back-to-back ten-win seasons in 1971-72, with his lowest ERA, 3.70, in 1972.
They, along with their respective wives, Marilyn Peterson and Susanne Kekich, were close friends. In 1972, they went to a party, and afterwards, they acted upon an idea they had only discussed in jest: they traded spouses and went home together, Marilyn with Mike and Susanne with Fritz.
They liked it enough to do it more often. Eventually they moved in with each other and made the swaps permanent. They swapped each other’s children and even their dogs. All four spouses thought the whole thing perfectly natural.
Then Major League Baseball found out.
I read about this story around 20 years ago. I had never heard of this subject matter before and I haven't since. It was really strange that the two men traded FAMILIES (instead of just the wives). When did you first know about this story?
ReplyDeleteRead about it in the Epstein book mentioned in the post, about a decade ago. Surprised me too. If this had happened today it would still be controversial, but I think there’d be more support for the foursome.
ReplyDeleteOne of the "baseball" movies that I have seen is THE STRATTON STORY with JIMMY STEWART as MONTY STRATTON. The main part that I remember is the story of his marriage to ETHEL(JUNE ALLYSON). I really like Jimmy and June. June was married to actor/director DICK POWELL. Have you seen Jimmy and/or June in very many movies?
ReplyDeleteI’ve read about June Allyson. I know she was popular during the war, but I don’t recall seeing anything of hers. Seen lots of Stewart films but not THE STRATTON STORY. I’ll add it to the list.
ReplyDeleteJIMMY STEWART and JUNE ALLYSON did three movies together. THE STRATTON STORY was the first one. The other two were THE GLENN MILLER STORY and STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND. Unsurprisingly, one of the TV shows that June did later in her career was an episode of MURDER, SHE WROTE.
ReplyDeleteEverybody did MURDER SHE WROTE sooner or later!
ReplyDelete