Royals in 1970-71 Sports Illustrateds

In my many adventures trying to find cheap stuff, I bought this box of SI's for $10.

Here are some of the highlights that I read on the Royals

Fred Pateck Quotes

Pateck's answer on how it feels to be the shortest player in the majors, "A heckuva lot better than being the shortest player in the minors."

When asked, "What's your home run pitch?", he stated, " I don't know. I don't hit enough of them."

Sounds like Pateck could give Getz some advice

Cheerleaders

The new girl cheerleaders were cheerless --- "People got mad when we stood up to cheer," said one. "They said they could not see the game"

Royals cheerleaders. Really. I searched for 15 minutes for some images online with no success. Help me here. I have to see these an image of these cheerleaders.

Crazy Carl Taylor

And Outfielder Carl Taylor went on a dreadful tear. Irked when Umpire Jerry Neudecker said he trapped, rather than caught, a Brooks Robinson line drive, Taylor charged the ump. Teammate Cookie Rojas intervened and was punch in the jaw for his trouble. Two nights later, Taylor took himself out of a game with the Orioles, burned his sweat shirt in the club house and disappeared. He turned up in Sarasota, Fla., where he said his mother was sick and he was sorry.

How have I never heard of Carl Taylor. Here are his career highlights, IMO:

• He was Boog Powell's step bother
• He was originally signed by the Pirates as a free agent.
• He hit 0.348 in 1969 (helped by a 0.399 BABIP). 2.9 WAR of his 3.3 career WAR was generated in this one season.
• His career walk rate was 13.5% vice a strikeout rate of 12.9%.
• He was traded to the Royals for Ellie Rodriguez by the Cardinals.
• The game where he hits Rojas in the face happened on May 10th. At the time, Taylor was hitting a Kendall-esque 0.200/0.286/0.200. He played in the next game against the Orioles 2 days later. In the article it states that he took himself out of the game. According to B-Ref he didn't. He didn't play again until 14 days later. His next and last game as a Royals that season was Jun 6th. He was sent to the Pirates.
• The Royals then brought him back for the 1972-73 seasons. In his three years with the Royals, he hit 0.236/0.349/0.276 with 0 HRs in 152 games.

Professor Canton

Kansas City starter Bruce Dal Canton, who is doing a research project on major arm ailments for a master's degree.....

I don't know who is the bigger nerd ... him for writing it or me for wanting to read it.

Amos Otis at 3B

...he [Otis] would solve the team's [Mets] chronic third-base dilemma. The drums rolled and trumpets blew, but when the season began, Ed Charles was at third and the publicized Otis was on the bench.

Amos Otis at 3B? In 1969, he played a total of 3 games at 3B. He had 3 assists and 1error. 2 years later he won a Gold Glove in CF with the Royals.

Innovation and the Royals

... the Royals turned it [a pitching machine] around and aimed it at their infielders. It throws a ball at exactly the same spot every time, and the fielders move closer or farther away, perfecting their technique with various bounces. And because the bounces are uniform, the players' reactions can be measured and compared. For trickier bounces, the staff used a curve ball pitching machine.

But what about the scouts?