The Chris Moeller Archives

And a dog to be named later...

As a kid sometime during the 1980s, I remember buying a book at the mall that chronicled the most bizarre stories in the history of baseball. I no longer have the book, and I don't remember its title, but I remember that many of the stories contained in it, even the ones that I've heard repeated multiple times since, I recall first reading about in this particular book. This list of bizarro happenings included the tale of Bill Veeck sending a midget up to bat for the St. Louis Browns during a game in 1951. Most of you know that one. It included the story of the sullen and violent Ty Cobb going into the stands in 1912 and pummeling a heckler who had lost both of his hands in an industrial accident, and one about the early 20th century fad of ballplayers attempting to catch baseballs dropped from city skyscrapers or from the Washington Monument. You might know those. And it also featured the story of a pair of New York Yankees pitchers and roommates (both left-handers, of course) who swapped their wives and children with each other in 1972. You really ought to learn about that one.

Just a few weeks into what would become George Steinbrenner's long reign as owner of the Yankees, it was reported that a former 20-game winner, Fritz Peterson, and his wife Marilyn were attempting this delicate maneuver alongside two-time 10-game winner Mike Kekich and his wife Suzanne. The off-season deal in the winter of '72-'73 turned out to be about as imbalanced as Brock-for-Broglio. Mike and Marilyn crashed and burned. Fritz and Suzanne are approaching a 38th wedding anniversary. Fritz also came to Christ after his playing days, and has a new career writing books that speculate about which Yankees all-time greats are in heaven and which ones aren't. (I'm not making this up. Most recent title: Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven.)

Now here's the best part. Ben and Casey Affleck, along with Matt Damon, are attached to a production now approved at Warner Brothers (entitled "The Trade") that will dramatize this entire episode. All three artists are South Boston natives, of course, as well as died-in-the-wool Red Sox fans. New York magazine has a must-read article about the Petersons and Kekichs in their most recent issue, and in it, Ben Affleck makes very little attempt to disguise the fact that he was drawn to the story-- and he may direct the film as well as star in it-- because it portrays the Yankees organization, as a whole, as detestable enough to have its players making off with each other's wives. As a viewer, I can appreciate a hatchet job on the Yankees. Hopefully, it's the type that will cause Billy Crystal to cough up his peanuts and Cracker Jacks. But as baseball's sexual deviants go, and they would seem to be legion, Peterson and Kekich at least deserve points for imagination. And definitely for audacity and aspiration.

posted by CM @ 8:30 PM