Fritz Peterson ✝

Fritz Peterson has the lowest ratio of base on balls per innings pitched for any left-handed pitcher to pitch in the major leagues since the 1920s.\n', ' Peterson attended Arlington High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He was the number two pitcher on his high school team, behind Gene Dahlquist, who went on to play college football at the University of Arizona and professionally for the Norfolk Neptunes in the Continental Football League. Arlington High School produced several major league baseball players, including Paul Splittorff, Dick Bokelmann, and George Vukovich. He attended college at Northern Illinois University. He was viewed as a promising hockey player and gave up playing hockey to concentrate on baseball. He was signed by the New York Yankees in 1963 as an amateur free agent by Yankee scout Lou Maguolo.\n', ' Peterson and Splittorff pitched against each other twice during their careers, with Peterson winning both matchups. On August 17, 1971, the Yankees beat the Kansas City Royals 2–0 at Yankee Stadium (in the days before the Designated Hitter, both pitchers went 0–2 at the plate), and on August 22, 1975 at the old Royals Stadium, the Indians beat the Royals, 9–5.\n', '