Freddie Joseph Patek (; born October 9, 1944), nicknamed The Flea or The Cricket, is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. At tall, he was the shortest MLB player of his time.

Career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Patek was drafted by the

in the 22nd round of the

1965 Major League Baseball draft The 1965 Major League Baseball Draft is the first year in which a draft took place for Major League Baseball. It was held on June 8–9 in New York City. In Major League Baseball's first Free Agent Amateur Draft, the Kansas City Athletics selec ...

out of Seguin High School in

Seguin, Texas Seguin ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Guadalupe County, Texas, United States; as of the 2020 census, its population was 29,433. Its economy is primarily supported by a regional hospital, as well as the Schertz-Seguin Local Government C ...

. He made his major league debut on June 3, 1968 against the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

at shortstop, and played all but six of his 292 games with the Pirates at shortstop. However, with All-Star

Gene Alley Leonard Eugene Alley (born July 10, 1940) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire career in Major League Baseball as a shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates from through . A two-time All-Star player, Alley was a ...

firmly entrenched at shortstop there was a desire on the part of management to convert him into a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

Kansas City Royals

Patek was traded along with

Bruce Dal Canton John Bruce Dal Canton (June 15, 1941 – October 7, 2008) was a major league pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1967–70), Kansas City Royals (1971–75), Atlanta Braves (1975–76), and Chicago White Sox (1977). Career Dal Canton's career ...

and Jerry May from the

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

to the Royals for

Jackie Hernández Jacinto Hernández Zulueta (September 11, 1940 – October 12, 2019)Dipaola, Jerry.Ex-Pirates SS Jackie Hernandez, member of 1971 World Series champs, dies, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, October 16, 2019. was a Cuban professional baseball playe ...

, Bob Johnson and

Jim Campanis James Alexander Campanis (born February 9, 1944 in New York City), is a former professional ballplayer who played in the Major Leagues primarily as a catcher from 1966 to 1970 and 1973. Campanis batted and threw right-handed. His father, Al Campan ...

at the

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

on December 2, 1970. In his first season with the Royals, Patek hit for the cycle on July 9, 1971, and led the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

with 11

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

to finish sixth in A.L. M.V.P. balloting. He earned his first of three All-Star selections the following season, and was a staple of the Royals line-up that won the

American League West The American League West is one of Major League Baseball's six divisions. The division has five teams as of the 2013 season, but had four teams from 1994 to 2012, and had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. Although its teams curr ...

from 1976 through 1978. He led the American League with 53 stolen bases in 1977. For 8 consecutive years, Patek posted 30 or more stolen bases and he led the American league in double plays turned 4 straight years. A memorable image was captured by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

television of Patek sitting painfully alone in the Royals' empty dugout while the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

celebrated on-field their come-from-behind victory to win the last game of the

1977 American League Championship Series The 1977 American League Championship Series was a five-game series played between October 5 and 9, 1977, between the Eastern division champion New York Yankees and the Western division champion Kansas City Royals. The games were played at Yan ...

, played in Kansas City on Patek's 33rd birthday. The game and series ended when Patek grounded into a

double play In baseball and softball, a double play (denoted as DP in baseball statistics) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous play. Double plays can occur any time there is at least one baserunner and fewer than two outs. In Major Leag ...

. A durable player at shortstop, he ranks among the Royals all-time leaders in hits (1,076), walks (413), runs scored (571), stolen bases (336), and games played (1,245). George Brett Freddie Patek and Gerald Ford (cropped)

George Brett Freddie Patek and Gerald Ford (cropped)

California Angels

Following the 1979 season, Patek signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

with the

. He became the second shortstop, after

Ernie Banks Ernest Banks (January 31, 1931 – January 23, 2015), nicknamed "Mr. Cub" and "Mr. Sunshine", was an American professional baseball player who starred in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a shortstop and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs between ...

, to hit three home runs in a single game on June 20, 1980 against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

. In 1981, Patek was relegated to a utility role, actually seeing more playing time backing up

Bobby Grich Robert Anthony Grich (born January 15, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles (–) and the California Angels (–). In 1981, Grich led the ...

at second base than he did at short. Patek retired after the 1981 season with a career

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .242 with 41 home runs and 490 RBIs. Patek was better known for his speed and his defensive abilities; former manager

Whitey Herzog Dorrel Norman Elvert "Whitey" Herzog (; born November 9, 1931) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and manager, most notable for his Major League Baseball (MLB) managerial career. He made his MLB debut as a player in 1956 wit ...

called Patek the best

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

shortstop he ever managed, ranking him even higher than

Ozzie Smith Osborne Earl Smith (born December 26, 1954) is an American former professional baseball player. Nicknamed "the Wizard of Oz", Smith played shortstop for the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals in Major League Baseball, winning the National ...

. When asked by a reporter what it felt like to be the smallest player in the major leagues, Patek replied, "I'd rather be the smallest player in the majors than the tallest player in the minors." Although Patek played in four

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the two winners of the American ...

, his teams never reached the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. The Pirates won the World Series the season after Patek left the Pirates (), and the Royals lost the World Series the season after Patek left the Royals (). Baseball analyst

Bill James George William James (born October 5, 1949) is an American baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics. ...

has ranked Patek, a member of the

Kansas City Royals Hall of Fame The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, the 14th best player in Royals' history.

Personal life

Patek briefly served as a part-time baseball analyst for

after his retirement. On July 21, 1992, Patek's daughter Kimberlie was paralyzed from the neck down in a car accident. Community fund raisers and charity events, and a donation from the

Baseball Assistance Team The Baseball Assistance Team is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization affiliated with Major League Baseball. The organization's mission is to "confidentially support members of the ''Baseball Family'' in need of assistance." The baseball family inc ...

, helped the family defray significant medical expenses. Kimberlie died on June 14, 1995.

References

External links

*
SABR BioProject
{{DEFAULTSORT:Patek, Freddie 1944 births Living people American League All-Stars American League stolen base champions Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Texas California Angels players Columbus Jets players Gastonia Pirates players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball shortstops Sportspeople from Oklahoma City People from Seguin, Texas Pittsburgh Pirates players