Lefthanded pitchers are supposed to be flakes. FRITZ PETERSON and MIKE KEKICH were both lefties; in 1972 they were teammates with the New York Yankees, best friends with adjoining lockers and chummy spouses. But baseball - not to mention the rest of America was not ready for the news that broke on March 5, 1973. The New York Times headline read: "2 Yankees Disclose Family Exchange." The previous October Fritz (far right) had swapped his wife, Marilyn, his two kids and a poodle for Susanne Kekich (second from right), the two Kekich children and a Bedlington terrier. Fritz & Marilyn and Mike & Suzanne quickly became the most celebrated names in sports. Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, who said he was "appalled" at the exchange but powerless to reverse it, received more mail on this wife/family swap than on the introduction of the DH rule that same spring.
And what of the outcome this many years later? Details are hard to come by. Peterson and Kekich have kept low public profiles in recent years. Although both have run afoul of the IRS. Peterson once declared bankruptcy, and Kekich has been sued for nonpayment of student loans. Peterson, though, seems to have gotten the better of the deal. He and Susanne are still married, have four children of their own and live outside Chicago, as Fritz works as a casino-boat dealer in Elgin, Illinois after a failed foray into real estate.
The Mike and Marilyn combination, however, quickly unraveled. Three months after the pitchers went public, Kekich was shipped off to Cleveland and would start only eight more games in the majors. He is remarried and living in Albuquerque, where his current occupation is unknown. Marilyn had taken her two kids and opted for what one report calls "Midwestern obscurity" -- which, presumably, is not a place where kooky New York lefthanders swap wives.
Is this story made for Hollywood? Maybe. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have obtained the rights to the screenplay. But it's not exactly the Yankees Field of Dreams.
This reports YOUTUBE clip....
With the passing of Myron Cope, we've seen some of his best Steeler stuff on the news. The Christmas Carols, etc. But do you remember when he filmed a Pirates bit for the 1990 playoffs? The link below is for his crazy rendition of MC Hammer's "You can't touch this" and it even has some shots of the '90 Pirates team and Cope is decked out as a rapper! (Length 2 mins, 10 sec.)
