Former Yankee pitcher Mike Kekich is attempting to halt production on Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's film "The Trade." The movie, based on the 1972 drama when Kekich and another Yankee pitcher Fritz Peterson swapped wives, has yet to start shooting.
The scandal, which was outed in 1973, began when the two Yankee pitchers joked about switching wives--then actually did it.
According to a source from the New York Post, Kekich is desperately trying to block the film from seeing daylight and said," Kekich isn't too keen on having the scandal dredged up again after all this time. He is panic-stricken. He has moved away and has a new identity. He is freaked out that those working on the movie found out where he is."
Boston-raised Red Sox fanatic Affleck and his brother Casey are rewriting the script. The brothers are reaching out to veteran reporters and ballplayers from that era for more background on the story. They aren't having an easy time.
The source said," Other Yankees from that time have also been really unhelpful with facts and details of what happened. They are stonewalling."
The proposed film centers around Kekich and Peterson, both starting pitchers and friends on the fourth-place '72 Yankees, joking about swapping wives during the tail-end of the swinging, free-love era. Marilyn Peterson eventually moved in with Kekich--which didn't last--and Susanne Kekich moved in with Fritz. Susanne and Fritz are still married. Kekich reportedly remarried, had another daughter and started a new life in New Mexico. The current Petersons live in New Jersey and Colorado.
Affleck hasn't named anyone who would star as Kekich and Peterson but hinted that Damon would direct. Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz and Rebecca Hall are all being considered for the female leads.
According to the Post, the script has not been shown to Major League Baseball or the New York Yankees and a start date hasn't been announced.
Affleck hasn't been quiet about making a film about the Yankees lean years and an episode which takes the Yankees superior image down a notch. He told MTV, "I've come to have a little respect for the Yankees. There are some of those guys...that look like good guys...But as an institution? Disdain. Contempt."
Regarding the film's storyline, Affleck said, "Guys [bleep]ing each other's wives...that's those Yankees."
Can't wait to see who plays Horace Clarke.
