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Mickey Mantle Is Going To Heaven
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$ 17.56
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$ 19.95 |
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| Item Number |
702424 |
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Item Description...
FRITZ PETERSON WAS A NEW YORK YANKEE WHO NEVER STOPPED SEARCHING FOR GOD.
In the 1960s in New York City, every young boy dreamed of playing for the Yankees. The difference was that Fritz Peterson was born with a pitcher's arm that would take him to "the Show." In his rookie year, in 1966, Peterson had the opportunity to play with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. Then he made a name for himself-both on the field and off.
Like so many of his colleagues, Peterson was a prankster; and as his story unfolds, we are given a home plate look into the quirks and foibles of his time with such baseball greats as Whitey Ford, Thurman Munson, Jim Bouton, Bobby Murcer, Joe Pepitone, and Mel Stottlemyre. In 1973, Peterson was involved in what Sports Illustrated called the most highly publicized trade in all of sports history -when he and a teammate traded wives. The storm of negative publicity and disapproval damaged his career. But whether in his very public years as a baseball player or in his later, private struggle with prostate cancer, Fritz Peterson continued to seek "salvation" and ultimately came to understand the truth of God's Grace. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 230
Dimensions: Length: 6.14" Width: 9.21" Height: 0.48"
Weight: 0.72 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Publisher Outskirts Press
ISBN 1432743848
EAN 9781432743840
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Availability 100 units.
Availability accurate as of May 26, 2012 05:53.
Usually ships within one to two business days from La Vergne, TN.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | GROWING UP A YANKEE FAN IN THE EARLY 70s Jan 30, 2010 |
| This is the book for you if you grew up a Ynakee fan during the dry years of the late 60s and early 70s. Fritz Peterson captures the era that is often skipped or skimed over in Yankee history books. He got a raw deal with the press after he remarried and now you get his take on the unjust hardhsips he had to overcome for doing something that today anyone would hardly notice, It is a l on love story on 2 levels a personal one for Fritz and one for the rest of us who grew up routing for the Yankees in NYC at a time the Mets were the talk of the town; not anymore. A must buy for all true Yankee fans and an insprational gem. | | |  | An Interesting Perspective Dec 31, 2009 |
For many, becoming a major league baseball player is the ultimate fantasy; of course, very few achieve such lofty status, and even fewer become famous in their professions.
Fritz Peterson played major league baseball for over a decade; toiling as a very talented pitcher for the once mighty New York Yankees, who just happened to be entering a period of poor performance like no other period of Yankee baseball, since the Bambino first cursed the Boston Red Sox (1920) by joining the Bronx Bombers in time for their remarkable ascent to baseball supremacy. Peterson's rookie season (1966) happened to coincide with a shocking last place finish for the Yankees, although he was certainly not to blame for their fall from the mountaintop.
He had a front row seat of the Yankee decline, as greats like Mantle and Maris were coming to the end of the line; it would not be until after Peterson made his exit from the Yankee organization that they'd have a return to glory; led by the controversial and outspoken slugger, Reggie Jackson, aka Mr October. Although New York was swept by the powerful Cincinnati Reds in the '76 World Series, the Yankees were back to full glory during the next couple of seasons; and the controversy that surrounded them was almost as compelling as their level of accomplishment. Love 'em or hate 'em, the Yankees were never dull, that's for sure.
Fritz Peterson's memoir makes for an interesting perspective, since it was his lifestyle that made headlines in the '70s; not his skill as a pitcher. For reasons that many of us will never comprehend, Peterson switched wives with a fellow teammate, and was very public about the trade; no players to be named later; no endorsements to be enhancing the scandal. In the end, an unforgiving American public scorned the affair, and the careers of the players involved quickly faded from the scene.
Peterson has penned an unusual memoir that shows the dark side of society's moral compass, where the players engaged in scandal will bear the brunt of disapproval, perhaps forever.
| | | | Baseball and Pranks Dec 19, 2009 |
| This was an outstanding book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who love baseball, pranks and God! Fritz did a great job of giving you a behind the scenes look at baseball. | | | | What Is This Book About:Dying, Wife Swapping, Baseball Or Practical Jokes? Dec 10, 2009 |
Fritz Peterson's newly penned "Mickey Mantle Is Going To Heaven" is a confusing mix of issues, opinions, resentments and explanations that is a heavy agenda that will leave the reader with retrospection's of the past, especially if you were born between 1950 and 1960 and paid attention to the sport of baseball. I know, I was one of them. I was a 13 year old baseball fan living in Forest Hills, a section of Queens, N.Y. in 1973, the year New York Yankee pitcher Fritz Peterson decided to "trade" his wife, Marilyn, his two children and dog to his best friend Mike Kekich, a fellow pitcher on the Yankees. In return, Peterson received Kekich's wife Susan, the two Kekich children, and Kekich's dog, a Bedlington terrier.
You might be wondering why I liked the Yankees in the first place, living a 30 minute ride on the "E" train to Roosevelt Avenue, then the "Flushing #7" train to "Shea Stadium and Willet's Point", as opposed to the hour and a half, scary ride into the Bronx war zone on the "D" train. Then Roy Said to Mickey...: The Best Yankees Stories Ever Told (Best Sports Stories Ever Told) I can't answer that question. Why do people in Missouri choose the Cubs verses the Cardinals? Or in Chicago, with the choice between the Cubs or White Sox? Or how about the poor California fan, faced with choosing the Dodgers, Angels, A's, Giants or Padres? Fritz Peterson tackles the question as to why one should be a Met's hater, as well as myriads more. Personally, my awareness of baseball and it's players commenced in 1969, the year the Mets beat the heavily favored Orioles in the World Series in 5 games to top off their miracle season. Pride and Pinstripes: The Yankees, Mets, and Surviving Life's Challenges Watching WPIX Channel 11 in New York, I, as a 9 year old, fell in love with baseball and the Yankees as my favorite childhood pastime and diversion, especially when I wasn't in school or playing "stickball" (why do they only play that in N.Y.? Nobody even knows what that is here in Florida!) In Queens, the main newspaper at the time was the "Long Island Press". I religiously kept up with the Yankees and baseball, reading Jim Ogle's columns. I continued to watch baseball as I grew up and matured. I remember in '69 when Dave McNally of the O's won 15 straight games. I remember in 1971 when the Pittsburgh Pirates came back from the dead and defeated Baltimore to win the World Series, and Yankee center fielder Bobby Murcer socked 25 home runs, batting .331. In fact, I actually gage my past by what happened in Baseball that particular year.
However, 1973 took the cake. I supposedly became a man, observing the Jewish custom of being Bar Mitzvahed, Murcer signed for $100 K, the Designated Hitter and Ron Blomberg evolved, and Peterson and Kekich "did their thing". Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story I actually still have the article announcing their "wife swap"! Why would they do such a thing? Weird! I pondered this, along with the how's and why's of the complete U.S. pull out in Vietnam, the "Yom Kippur War", and Salvadore Allende's execution in Chile as the big question marks of 1973. So, when I heard of this book, it was a foregone conclusion that I had to read it. In Peterson's chapter "Kekich, The Left Handed Bouton", he tries to remove the mystery around this strange event.
Prior to this chapter, in "Bouton Died", Peterson explained his weird friendship with fellow lefty and future author of "Ball Four", Jim Bouton. Ball Four Being labeled a "trouble maker", Jim Bouton and his burnt out arm was sold by the Yankees to the newly formed Seattle Pilots for the upcoming 1969 season. Now friendless, Peterson was teaching in the off season at Northern Illinois University when he read that the Yankees, on December 4th, 1968 had sent weak hitting Andy Kosco to the Los Angeles Dodgers for 23 year old lefty fastball pitcher Mike Kekich. When Bouton was with the Yankees, Peterson viewed him as the older brother he always wanted. Now, with Kekich, the reverse was true:he had the younger brother he always wanted.
Explaining that the Yankees in 1969 were "very clickish", and hesitant to accept anyone that didn't come from their minor league farm system (Bobby Murcer, Mel Stottlemyre, Thurman Munson and Roy White were examples), Peterson observed in Spring Training that most of Kekich's teammates were standoffish towards him. In addition, Kekich enjoyed arguing and doing things his own way. Like Bouton had done for Peterson when he broke into the major leagues, he took it upon himself to take Kekich under his wing, and since Peterson carried some weight with the Yankees (with records of 12 wins and 11 losses in 1968, 17 wins and 16 losses in 1969) he used this leverage and his friendships with his fellow Yankees to bring Mike into the fold.
Both enjoying to go to piano bars and sing, Peterson and Kekich became fast friends. They took trips together, going diving in the Florida Keys, sailing a catamaran off Fort Lauderdale, and finally, meeting each other's wife and children. Fritz wrote in this book about Kekich's wife: "The first time I met Mike's wife was after a game at Yankee Stadium in 1969. It was drizzling that night and Mike and I walked up together from the clubhouse and went out the stadium office door where his wife had been parked waiting for him. He introduced me to her. She was seated on the passenger side of the car. We said our "nice to meet you" stuff when his wife said, "It's raining, don't get wet and I said, for some reason, "don't worry, it's worth it". Little did I know at the time how much it would be worth!"
The reader notices throughout the book that Peterson refers to the former Susanne Kekich as "his new wife". Why? Subsequent to the publication of this book it has been brought out that aside from fighting prostate cancer for the second time, Peterson has revealed that Susanne, whom Fritz has been married to now for over 35 years, was vehemently against the writing of this book. The Trade Off: My Husband/Your Wife Peterson has later said "She's pretty sensitive about this stuff. She read the first three chapters, and then stopped". Following both their divorces, the liaison between Mike Kekich and Marilyn Peterson flamed out after a few months, and with their marriage Fritz and Susanne had 4 children together. Of his little affair with Marilyn Peterson, Kekich recalled: Marilyn and I thought we were perfectly suited, just like Fritz and Suzanne. Marilyn was all for the swap in the beginning, but then she backed off. All four of us agreed in the beginning that if anyone wasn't happy, the thing would be called off. But when Marilyn and I decided to call it off, the other couple had gone off with each other".
Professionally, Fritz Peterson was the better of the two pitchers. A twenty game winner in 1970, he went 133-131 over 11 seasons before blowing out his rotator cuff and retiring in 1976. As to the wife swapping and how it affected his baseball career, he was 17-13 in his last pre-swap season of 1972. The following year, as the "laughing stock" of the American League, he fell to a horrible record of 8-15. Fred Beene, a pitcher and teammate of Fritz's, said, "Fritz was never the same after the swap. He was practically destroyed by all the negative reaction". Kekich fared even worse. Aside from his break up with Marilyn Peterson, he was traded on June 12, 1973 to the Cleveland Indians for Lowell Palmer.Balls Before the swap, his claim to fame was as the pitcher that gave up Frank Howard's home run in the Washington Senator's last game ever before their move to Texas. He finished 1973 with a 2-5 record, only to be cut the next year by the Indians. Kekich commented, "My whole career went into a black hole after the swap. It was awful". He pitched 2 more years, finally retiring in 1977 with a career record of 39-51.
The book gives Peterson's blow by blow account of the swap, his feelings involved, his justification of it, and how Peterson felt the media unfairly blew it out of proportion. Although there is no mention of it in his 1987 memoir, the late Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn was "appalled" by the swap, and he went on record by saying he was powerless to interfere. Hardball: The Education of a Baseball Commissioner Kuhn later said that received more fan mail about the swap than about the American League's introduction of the "Designated Hitter". Peterson makes light of the whole affair when he mentions in the book that the Yankees General Manager Lee MacPhail quipped, "We may have to call off Family Day".
The late Bobby Murcer, in his book, does mention this incident. His comment was: "You couldn't help but hear about "swingers" and wife-swapping" and "free love" any more than you could fail to recognize the smell of marijuana smoke if you went into the men's room at a nightclub. In Spring Training 1973, Ralph Houk called a clubhouse meeting before practice the day before my new ($100K) contract was going to be announced. None of us knew what was coming. "We've got a little family matter that everyone needs to know about," Ralph said, after everybody quieted down. You'll be reading about this in the paper sooner or later. And Ralph proceeded to break the news to us (about the wife-swap). We sat there dumbfounded, in a state of shock. Nobody knew what to say, so nobody said much of anything. I never understood it, what they were doing. I never forgot it. But I figured it was their business, and none of my business. Look, to their credit, this wasn't something they were selling as a model for other people. It was just something they wanted to do, and so they did it. Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes
Peterson tried to get into baseball announcing after his career was over, but claimed he was semi black-balled from baseball because of this incident.One Man Out: Curt Flood Versus Baseball (Landmark Law Cases & American Society) Writing that Bill Clinton hadn't been elected into office yet to set the pace for the country's morals, he asserted in his defense: "Had the "slickster" been in office during my "hay day" I might of ended up as the Baseball Commissioner! Who knows? My guy, Nixon, had to resign because of Watergate so there was little hope for me to be employed over the airwaves in those days. The "slickster" would have helped to take some of the heat off of Mike and me as we waded through our public relations fiasco, alone in 1973! I wonder if Monica made any road trips?" This book was also rich in memories, with Peterson devoting entire chapters to Mickey Mantle, Bobby Murcer, the Yankees of the early 1970's (Thurmon Munson, Sparky Lyle, Roy White, etc.), Joe Pepitone, Roger Maris, Whitey Ford, Bobby Richardson and Graig Nettles. SLICK Peterson takes his stances on the steroid controversy, if baseball fights are real, and most interestingly, his hatred of the New York Mets and giving reasons why anyone in their right mind would not be a fan of that team. Hilarious and hysterical jokes are recounted, with Peterson being the king of pranks. Quaintly, throughout the book Peterson interjects his religious beliefs throughout the book, revealing who he thinks will go to heaven, and who will burn in the "Lake of Hell". You will have to read this book to find out his picks! He ends this fascinating book being a Yankee to the end. Peterson concludes: "It would have been nice to have been in a World Series or even just a post season game in Yankee Stadium during my time frame in baseball with the Yankees, 1966-1974. But it wasn't to be. However, I would rather have been a N.Y. Yankee on a losing team than a New York Met or an Oakland Athletic on a World Series winner! No kidding". A great read, a nice jogging of the memory of my youth, and a fascinating insight on Fritz Peterson's take on the "trade of the century". Get this book! | | | | Pinstriped Prankster Pitches Prophecy Dec 4, 2009 |
A little trivia for baseball enthusiasts: who had the lowest E.R.A. ever in "The House that Ruth Built"?; It's Fritz Peterson! Who knew? After reading his book, I also learned who the All-Time Yankee Prankster was, once again.... it's Fritz! I Literally L.O.L.'ed on several occasions. I can't say I've done that very often while reading!
Without the use of a co-author, the anecdotes retain their innocence (so to speak). Peterson's accounts of practical jokes and horseplay involving Pepitone, Skowron, Munson, Murcer and Clete Boyer,and countless other Yankee greats that he had the privilege of playing with, are straight from the horses' mouth. I felt as though I was sitting along side of him on the bench along with Mantle, Maris and Ford and Billy Martin just shootin' the breeze.
The former Yankee (and typically flaky south paw) finally speaks out. Until now, his voice was shrouded by Yankee scrutiny. Black-balled due to the most scandalous trade in baseball history: swapping entire families with team mate Mike Kekich, he has kept a low profile. The time has arrived; he comes forth with treasured stories that were buried behind the Yankees hallowed walls.
This is required reading for all Yankee fans, however if you were unfortunate enough to have suffered through the period referred to as "the Horace Clarke era" as I was, you'll get an extra kick out of this very enjoyable read.
Woven in with priceless, side-splitting stories, the crafty lefty puts an interesting spin on theology. Fritz concludes each chapter by passing final judgement upon his peers, and determining their eternal destiny. His intentions are pure and the "playing God" act is quite amusing, although the message is not to be taken lightly; it hits home solidly. Fritz could not be more serious when it comes to his faith, although his delivery is extremely entertaining. A home run on my scorecard.
Anthony Ficca
Hawthorne, NJ
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