MLB歷史上最有名的交易之一，洋基的兩位球員交換老婆，
其中一位主角 Fritz Peterson，40年後還說他無悔，
他和換來的老婆過得很好，彷彿天天度蜜月，所以這故事為
題材的電影開拍，他也樂於擔任顧問。唯一的遺憾是，
Mike Kekich那對結果卻不圓滿，而且Kekich聽說電影的事情，
幾乎要抓狂了。
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/sports/baseball/
ex-yankee-peterson-has-no-regrets-40-years-after-w/nT7fG/
Posted: 4:55 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013
Ex-Yankee Fritz Peterson has no regrets 40 years after wife swap
By Joe Capozzi
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
FORT LAUDERDALE — Former Yankees pitcher Fritz Peterson pulled out a camera
and started shooting as soon as he arrived Saturday morning at Fort
Lauderdale Stadium.
“It was like a whole life flashing by me as I drove around and took pictures
of the place,’’ he said.
Peterson, 70, knows he might not get back here again. Saturday was the final
Joe DiMaggio Legends game, a decision announced a day earlier by organizers
who’ve held the charity event for the last 25 years.
The old ballpark has witnessed plenty of baseball over the years but perhaps
nothing as strange and unusual as the events that unfolded 40 years ago in
the room that once housed Yankee manager Ralph Houk’s office.
That’s where Peterson and his close friend, fellow Yankees left-hander Mike
Kekich, held separate press conferences on March 4, 1973 — Kekich at 10
a.m., Peterson at 4 p.m. — to announce details of what would become known as
the most scandalous trade in baseball history.
This was a blockbuster to top all blockbusters: The two teammates told the
world they had swapped wives — and children. Even dogs.
“Actually, it was a husband trade — Mike for me or me for Mike,’’
Peterson recalled with a laugh before Saturday’s game.
Peterson won 109 games for the Yankees and pitched in the 1970 All-Star Game.
His 2.52 home ERA is the lowest in the history of Yankee Stadium. But he’s
remembered most for trading wives with Kekich, and he doesn’t mind.
Wearing Yankee pinstripes that hugged his body tighter than they did 40 years
ago, Peterson said he prefers to not talk about it. But if people ask, as
they often have for the last 40 years, he doesn’t mind answering.
He says he’d rather get “the truth” out and do his best to dismiss the
common notion that the two families had done something sordid.
“It’s a love story,” he said. “It wasn’t anything dirty.”
He knows interest will only increase if actors Ben Affleck and Matt Damon
follow through on their plans to make “The Trade,” a movie based in part on
a book about the swap written by the late sports writer Maury Allen.
Peterson said he has agreed to be a consultant for Warner Brothers.
“I’m sure people are still wondering and that’s why I hope the movie comes
out,’’ he said, “because they’re going to find out it was nicer than what
they thought was going on.’’
It certainly has been nice for Peterson. He has been married to Susanne
Kekich since 1974.
“I could not be happier with anybody in the world. ‘Mama’ and I go out and
party every night,’’ he said. “We’re still on the honeymoon and it has
been a real blessing.’’
Kekich and Marilyn Peterson moved in together in 1972 but they split up a few
years later without getting married.
“That’s the only thing I feel bad for, that they didn’t work out because
we all figured it could all work out,’’ Peterson said.
A fateful evening
Although it became public in March 1973, the swap actually occurred in the
summer of ‘72.
“It just happened. It wasn’t planned,’’ he said.
The families both lived in New Jersey and had been friends since 1969.
“We were invited to a party at Maury Allen’s house on a Saturday night,
July the 15th, 1972,” Peterson said. “During the party, we all had a couple
of beers and were having a great time. When we were deciding to leave, we had
driven two different cars and happened to park behind each other out in the
street. I said to my wife, Marilyn, ‘Why don’t you ride with Mike to the
diner in Fort Lee, N.J., and I’ll take Susanne with me and we’ll meet there
and then we’ll go home from there.
“We did that and we had so much fun together, Susanne and I and Mike and
Marilyn, that we decided, ‘Hey, this is fun, let’s do it again.’ We did it
the next night. We went out to the Steak and Ale in Fort Lee. Mike and
Marilyn left early and Susanne and I stayed and had a few drinks and ate.
“It was just really fun being able to talk to somebody. All of us felt the
same way. We went on from there and eventually he fell in love with my wife
and I fell in love with his.’’
Former outfielder Ron Swoboda, who played his final three seasons with the
Yankees from ‘71-‘73, said he attended the same party.
“My first reaction? I had a solid marriage so I was like, ‘OK. That wouldn’
t likely happen to me.’ It probably wouldn’t happen to a lot of people. But
remember, that was the ’70s, not that far from the ’60s,” Swoboda said.
Friends drifted part after swap
Peterson had his best season in 1972, going 17-15 with a 3.24 ERA. Kekich
went 10-13 with a 3.70 ERA. Both players were so happy with their new lives
off the field that they decided after the season to make their unusual
arrangement permanent.
“When we did it, we figured the kids should stay with their mothers,’’
Peterson said. “Susanne flew back from California with her two daughters
and my wife flew out to California to meet Mike’s family with our two sons,
and that was it.’’
Peterson said he didn’t think it would be that big of a story. But the day
after the announcement, “I saw my picture on TV when I woke up,” he said. “
And I said, ‘Uh-oh, it’s a big one.’ ’’
Kekich was traded to Cleveland that June. Peterson was traded to Cleveland a
year later and pitched only three more seasons.
Peterson said he hasn’t spoken to Kekich — who could not be reached for
this story — in 10 years.
“We just went our own ways,’’ he said. “I don’t have anything against
him and I don’t think he has anything against me.’’
The New York Post in February 2011 reported that Kekich, 67, was “
panic-stricken” about the movie and is trying to stop it. His first wife
hopes he succeeds.
But Peterson said Susanne, who did not join him in Fort Lauderdale for the
charity game, will be thrilled to know that several of his former teammates
asked about her Saturday.
“She is not ready to come to these things. She will, I hope, some day
because they all ask about her. They all like her.”