Dock Ellis

Dock Ellis
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Pitcher
Born: March 11, 1945(1945-03-11) Los Angeles, California
Died: December 19, 2008(2008-12-19) (aged 63) Los Angeles, California
Batted: Switch	Threw: Right
MLB debut
June 18, 1968 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Last MLB appearance
September 29, 1979 for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Career statistics
Win–Loss record	138–119
Earned run average	3.46
Strikeouts	1,136
Teams
Pittsburgh Pirates (1968–1975) New York Yankees (1976–1977) Oakland Athletics (1977) Texas Rangers (1977–1979) New York Mets (1979) Pittsburgh Pirates (1979)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (1971) World Series champion (1971) 1976 AL Comeback Player of the Year Pitched no-hitter on June 12, 1970

Dock Phillip Ellis, Jr. (March 11, 1945 – December 19, 2008) was a professional baseball player who pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, among other teams in Major League Baseball. His best season was 1971, when he won 19 games for the World Series champion Pirates and was the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game. However, he is perhaps best remembered for throwing a no-hitter in 1970 and later stating that he had done it while under the influence of LSD.

Playing career

Ellis is best-known for several incidents during his career:

Beaning Reggie Jackson

Beaning Reggie Jackson in the face in apparent retaliation for Reggie's monstrous home run off Ellis in the 1971 All-Star Game in Detroit.^[1]

June 12, 1970 no-hitter

Ellis pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970. He would admit in 1984 to being under the influence of LSD throughout the course of the game.^[2] Ellis had been visiting friends in Los Angeles under the impression he had the day off and was still high when his friend's girlfriend told him he had to pitch a game against the Padres that night. Ellis boarded a shuttle flight to the ballpark and threw a no-hitter despite not being able to feel the ball or clearly see the batter or catcher.^[3] Ellis said catcher Jerry May wore reflective tape on his fingers which helped Ellis to see his signals. Ellis walked eight, struck out six, and was aided by excellent fielding plays by second baseman Bill Mazeroski and center fielder Matty Alou.^[4] Because the no-hitter was the first game of a double header, Ellis was forced to keep track of the pitch count for the night game.^[5]

As Ellis recounted it:

I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the (catcher's) glove, but I didn't hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times. The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. I started having a crazy idea in the fourth inning that Richard Nixon was the home plate umpire, and once I thought I was pitching a baseball to Jimi Hendrix, who to me was holding a guitar and swinging it over the plate. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn't hit hard and never reached me.^[6]

The incident inspired the songs "Dock Ellis" by indie rock singer Barbara Manning, "America's Favorite Pastime" by folk singer Todd Snider, "Dock Ellis' No-No" by Chuck Brodsky,^[7] and "LSD (The Ballad of Doc Ellis)" by Boston rock band Random Road Mother. Robin Williams has incorporated the tale into a standup routine for HBO ^[8] An animated short film about the game, "Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No", features narration in Ellis's own voice, taken from a 2008 radio interview.^[9]

May 5, 1972 macing incident in Cincinnati

Ellis argued with, and was maced by a Riverfront Stadium security guard on May 5, 1972. The guard said Ellis did not identify himself and "made threatening gestures with a closed fist"; Ellis countered that he was showing his World Series ring as evidence of his affiliation with the Pirates.^[10]

May 1, 1974 game against Cincinnati

Ellis attempted to hit every batter in the Cincinnati Reds lineup on May 1, 1974, as retaliation for the macing incident in Cincinnati two years earlier. Ellis hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen in the top of the first. The clean-up batter Tony Perez avoided Ellis's attempts, instead drawing a walk, and after two pitches aimed at the head of Johnny Bench, Ellis was removed from the game by manager Danny Murtaugh. Ellis's box score for the game reads: 0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.^[10]

Later career

On December 11, 1975, Ellis was traded to the New York Yankees along with Ken Brett and Willie Randolph in exchange for Doc Medich. Ellis also played for the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, and New York Mets. While with the Rangers, Ellis led a player insurrection against manager Billy Hunter's authoritarian style, declaring that Hunter "may be Hitler, but he ain't making no lampshade out of me."^[11] "In 1977, the Rangers won 94 games -- and finished eight games out of first. Ellis ended his career back in Pittsburgh. He finished with a lifetime record of 138-119 and an ERA of 3.46. Ellis collaborated with future U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall on a book, Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball (ISBN 0-671-65988-X), which was published in 1976. Although Hall knew of the LSD incident, it was not included in the first edition of the book.

Retirement and death

Ellis retired to Victorville, California, and a career as a drug counselor.^[12] Due to unspecified reasons he was diagnosed with cirrhosis in 2007 and was on the list for a transplant at the time of his death.^[13] ESPN.com reported on December 19, 2008, that Ellis had died at USC Medical Center in Los Angeles due to "a liver ailment." ^[14]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

References

1. ^ From no-hitter on LSD to hair curlers to feuds, Dock Ellis was free spirit, New York Daily News, December 22, 2008
2. ^ "Ball's Out" - Dallas Observer
3. ^ No Mas Presents: Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No by James Blagden on youtube
4. ^ Goldaper, Sam. "Roundup: Ellis of Pirates Stops Padres on No-Hitter." New York Times, June 12, 1970.
5. ^ Christine, Bill. "No-hit Ellis Knows About Pressure." Pittsburgh Press, June 13, 1970.
6. ^ LSD and the No-Hitter
7. ^ Chuck Brodsky: Dock Ellis No No on youtube
8. ^ Robin Williams & Doc Ellis on LSD - Weapons of Self Destruction HBO on youtube.
9. ^ Witz, Billy (September 5, 2010). "For Ellis, a Long, Strange Trip to a No-Hitter". The New York Times: pp. SP2. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/sports/baseball/05nohitter.html?_r=2&ref=sports. Retrieved 2010-09-07 
10. ^ ^{a b} Urban Legends Reference Pages: Dock Ellis LSD No-Hitter
11. ^ Dock Ellis ready to break rules
12. ^ Silver, Michael (2007-07-02). "Dock Ellis". Sports Illustrated: 126. 
13. ^ Elliot, Helene (2008-05-13). "Dock Ellis is trying to strike back at a tough foe". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-elliott13-2008may13,0,2406326.column. Retrieved 2008-05-13. 
14. ^ Crasnick, Jerry (2008-12-19). "Former major league pitcher Dock Ellis dies at 63". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3782859. Retrieved 2008-12-20. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• From Getting High to High Art: The Strange Journey of Dock Ellis Independent Film Channel feature article on Dock Ellis documentary
• How to throw a no-hitter on acid, and other lessons from the career of baseball legend Dock Ellis. By Keven McAlester
• Weekend America Interview with Ellis: Pitching on LSD by Donnell Alexander and Neille Ilel
• Obituary in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Preceded by Bob Moose	No-hitter pitcher June 12, 1970	Succeeded by Clyde Wright
Preceded by Boog Powell	AL Comeback Player of the Year 1976	Succeeded by Eric Soderholm

Persondata
Name	Ellis, Dock
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	March 11, 1945
Place of birth	Los Angeles, California
Date of death	December 19, 2008
Place of death	Los Angeles, California