"There is nothing wrong with Fritz Peterson that couldn't be helped by some tranquilizers. A talented lefthander with a good curve, sneaky fastball and excellent control, Fritz has jumped off to a skittish start with the Yankees. Last season, his second in the majors, he lost his first eight starts in a row ; he actually didn't win his first game until just before the All-Star break. His final record of 8-14 scarcely reflects his true worth. Fritz pitched some games last year which he should have won if he'd gotten any support; but he also pitched some where he was woefully lacking himself.
Pitching coach Jim Turner believes it's just a matter of getting Fritz to relax more out on the mound, to stop pressing. In his rookie campaign, he compiled a 12-11 record."
-Jack Zanger, Major League Baseball 1968
"Fritz has a fast ball - and a quick sense of humor. After beating Baltimore in his major league debut, Fritz quipped: 'I like to pitch fast and get the game over so I can find out who won.'
The 26-year-old southpaw from Chicago who's relaxed and easy-going off the mound has had a problem: staying that way when he's pitching.
Yankee coaches Jim Turner and Whitey Ford figure there isn't much more Fritz can learn about technique. He's a control pitcher and he can make the ball do what he wants.
'But when he tries too hard,' says Turner, 'he gets tight and wrecks his normal style. It's all in his attitude. When he's free and easy he's at his best. All he has to do is learn to relax on the mound.'
With Whitey Ford to help him learn to whistle while he works, Fritz will be a big factor in Houk's strategy of using left-handed pitchers in Yankee Stadium against certain clubs. Fritz is stingy with walks; he usually has twice as many strikeouts as walks and allows fewer hits than innings he has pitched.
During the past winter, Fritz taught at Morehead State University, Kentucky while working towards his doctor's degree in physical education. With his Little League, Babe Ruth, American Legion, semi-pro, and minor league ball behind him, Fritz says he has no baseball superstitions.
'I wore them all out last year,' he quips.
Fritz is married and has a son, Gregory (1). He played semi-pro ball and semi-pro hockey in the Chicago suburbs and was a three-letter man in high school and at Northern Illinois U."
-The New York Yankees Official 1968 Yearbook
"Fritz had a fine rookie season in 1966 when he won 12 games. He did not allow a run in his first three exhibition outings in 1967 and gave up only four hits in his first 14 innings pitched. It seemed, however, like the old 'sophomore jinx' hit him as soon as the regular season opened.
In his very first start, eight runs were scored off him in less than two innings, seven of them being unearned. The pattern continued from there; eight of his fourteen losses were either by one run or when Fritz was the victim of a shutout. At one point he hurled 34 2/3 innings without the benefit of a run. Near the end of the season, Fritz finally received his share of the breaks and won five of his last six decisions.
He had fine control in 1967 as he struck out more than twice as many as he walked. In his two-year career, he has allowed just 2.02 walks per nine innings.
Fritz once was a semi-pro hockey player. A graduate of Northern Illinois where he also received a Master's Degree in education, he spent the winter teaching at Steve Hamilton's old alma mater, Morehead State, in Morehead, Kentucky."
-1968 New York Yankees Press-Radio-TV Guide
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