Dock Ellis
Encyclopedia
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
.
Reggie Jackson
in the face, in apparent retaliation for Reggie's monstrous home run off of him in the 1971 All-Star Game
in Detroit.
against the San Diego Padres
on June 12, 1970. He would admit in to being under the influence of LSD throughout the course of the game. Ellis had been visiting friends in Los Angeles under the impression that he had the day off, and he was still high when his friend's girlfriend told him that 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 see the batter or catcher clearly. Ellis said that catcher Jerry May
wore reflective tape on his fingers, which helped Ellis to see his signals. Ellis walked eight batters and struck out six, and was aided by excellent fielding plays by second baseman Bill Mazeroski
and center fielder Matty Alou
. 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.
As Ellis recounted it:
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
, 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. 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.
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 inning. Cleanup batter Tony Perez
avoided Ellis's attempts—instead, drawing a walk; and, after two pitches that he 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 as follows: 0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
, 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." In 1977, the Rangers won 94 games and finished eight games out of first place. 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, he did not include it in the first edition of his book.
, and began a career as a drug counselor. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis
in 2007 and was on the list for a transplant at the time of his death.
ESPN.com
reported on December 19, 2008, that Ellis had died at USC Medical Center
in Los Angeles
, CA, due to "a liver ailment."
Professional baseball
Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system....
player who pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
, among other teams in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. His best season was 1971, when he won 19 games for the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
champion Pirates and was the starting pitcher
Starting pitcher
In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....
for the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
in the All-Star Game
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
. However, he is perhaps best remembered for throwing a no-hitter
No-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
in 1970 and later stating that he had done it while under the influence of LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
.
Beaning Reggie Jackson
Ellis beanedBeanball
"Beanball" is a colloquialism used in baseball, for a ball thrown at an opposing player with the intention of striking him such as to cause harm, often connoting a throw at the player's head...
Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson
Reginald Martinez "Reggie" Jackson , nicknamed "Mr. October" for his clutch hitting in the postseason with the New York Yankees, is a former American Major League Baseball right fielder. During a 21-year baseball career, he played from 1967-1987 for four different teams. Jackson currently serves as...
in the face, in apparent retaliation for Reggie's monstrous home run off of him in the 1971 All-Star Game
1971 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1971 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the 42nd such game, was played on July 13, 1971. The all-stars from the American League and the National League faced each other at Tiger Stadium, home of the Detroit Tigers...
in Detroit.
June 12, 1970, no-hitter
Ellis pitched a no-hitterNo-hitter
A no-hitter is a baseball game in which one team has no hits. In Major League Baseball, the team must be without hits during the entire game, and the game must be at least nine innings. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is said to have "thrown a no-hitter"...
against the San Diego Padres
1970 San Diego Padres season
-Offseason:* January 17, 1970: John Scott was drafted by the Padres in the 1st round of the 1970 Major League Baseball Draft .-Regular season:...
on June 12, 1970. He would admit in to being under the influence of LSD throughout the course of the game. Ellis had been visiting friends in Los Angeles under the impression that he had the day off, and he was still high when his friend's girlfriend told him that 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 see the batter or catcher clearly. Ellis said that catcher Jerry May
Jerry May
Jerry Lee May , was an American professional baseball player who played as a catcher in the Major Leagues from 1964 to 1973. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, and Kansas City Royals...
wore reflective tape on his fingers, which helped Ellis to see his signals. Ellis walked eight batters and struck out six, and was aided by excellent fielding plays by second baseman Bill Mazeroski
Bill Mazeroski
William Stanley Mazeroski , nicknamed "Maz", is a former Major League Baseball player who spent his entire career with the Pittsburgh Pirates...
and center fielder Matty Alou
Matty Alou
Mateo Rojas "Matty" Alou was a Dominican outfielder who spent fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball with the San Francisco Giants , Pittsburgh Pirates , St. Louis Cardinals , Oakland Athletics , New York Yankees and San Diego Padres...
. Because the no-hitter was the first game of a double header
Doubleheader (baseball)
A doubleheader is a set of two baseball games played between the same two teams on the same day in front of the same crowd. In addition, the term is often used unofficially to refer to a pair of games played by a team in a single day, but in front of different crowds and not in immediate...
, Ellis was forced to keep track of the pitch count
Pitch count
In baseball statistics, pitch count is the number of pitches thrown by a pitcher in a game.Pitch counts are especially a concern for young pitchers, pitchers recovering from injury, or pitchers who have a history of injuries. The pitcher wants to keep the pitch count low because of his stamina...
for the night game.
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.
The incident inspired the songs "Dock Ellis" by indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
singer Barbara Manning
Barbara Manning
Barbara Manning is an American indie rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. In addition to her solo career, Manning has been active in a number of bands, including 28th Day , World of Pooh, S.F. Seals and The Go-Luckys!. She has also distinguished herself as an interpreter of other writers' songs...
, "America's Favorite Pastime" by folk singer Todd Snider
Todd Snider
Todd Daniel Snider is an American singer-songwriter with a musical style that combines Americana, alt-country, and folk.-Biography:...
, "Dock Ellis' No-No" by Chuck Brodsky
Chuck Brodsky
Chuck Brodsky is an American musician and singer-songwriter currently living in Asheville, North Carolina. He is particularly known for his often humorous and political lyrics, as well as his songs about baseball, such as "The Ballad of Eddie Klepp" and "Moe Berg: The Song"...
, and "LSD (The Ballad of Doc Ellis)" by Boston rock band Random Road Mother. Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
has incorporated the tale into a standup routine for HBO. 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.
May 5, 1972, macing incident in Cincinnati
Ellis argued with—and was maced by—a Riverfront Stadium security guard on May 5, . The guard said that 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.May 1, 1974, game against Cincinnati
Ellis attempted to hit every batter in the Cincinnati Reds1974 Cincinnati Reds season
The Cincinnati Reds season was a season in American baseball. It consisted of the Reds finishing in second place in the National League West with a record of 98-64, four games behind the NL West and pennant-winning Los Angeles Dodgers...
lineup on May 1, 1974, as retaliation for the macing incident in Cincinnati two years earlier. Ellis hit Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
, Joe Morgan
Joe Morgan
Joe Leonard Morgan is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. He won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the...
, and Dan Driessen
Dan Driessen
Daniel Driessen is a former Major League Baseball infielder who played for five teams in his eighteen year career, and is best known as a member of the Cincinnati Reds "Big Red Machine" of the 1970s....
in the top of the first inning. Cleanup batter Tony Perez
Tony Pérez
Atanasio Pérez Rigal , more commonly known as Tony Pérez, is a former Major League Baseball player. He was also known by the nickname "Big Dog," "Big Doggie," and "Doggie."...
avoided Ellis's attempts—instead, drawing a walk; and, after two pitches that he aimed at the head of Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Bench is a former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame...
, Ellis was removed from the game by manager Danny Murtaugh
Danny Murtaugh
Daniel Edward Murtaugh was an American second baseman, manager, front-office executive and coach in Major League Baseball best known for his 29-year association with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a player and manager...
. Ellis's box score for the game reads as follows: 0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Later career
On December 11, 1975, Ellis was traded to the New York YankeesNew York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
, along with Ken Brett
Ken Brett
Kenneth Alven Brett was a Major League Baseball pitcher and the second of four Brett brothers who played professional baseball, the most notable being the youngest, George Brett.Ken played for 10 teams in his 14-year MLB career.Born in Brooklyn, Ken Brett grew up in southern California and was an...
and Willie Randolph
Willie Randolph
Willie Larry Randolph is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and manager, most recently the third base coach for the Baltimore Orioles...
, in exchange for Doc Medich
Doc Medich
George Francis "Doc" Medich in Aliquippa, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1972-1982...
. Ellis also played for the Oakland Athletics
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are a Major League Baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Athletics have played in the O.co Coliseum....
, Texas Rangers
Texas Rangers (baseball)
The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
, and New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
. While with the Rangers, Ellis led a player insurrection against manager Billy Hunter's
Billy Hunter (baseball)
Gordon William Hunter is a retired American shortstop, coach and manager in Major League Baseball.A slick-fielding, light-hitting shortstop from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the right-handed-batting Hunter was originally signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers. With his path to the majors blocked by Pee Wee...
authoritarian style, declaring that Hunter "may be Hitler, but he ain't making no lampshade out of me." In 1977, the Rangers won 94 games and finished eight games out of first place. Ellis ended his career back in Pittsburgh. He finished with a lifetime record of 138–119 and an ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...
of 3.46.
Ellis collaborated with future U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall
Donald Hall
Donald Hall is an American poet. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2006.-Personal life:...
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
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
incident, he did not include it in the first edition of his book.
Retirement and death
Ellis retired to Victorville, CaliforniaVictorville, California
Victorville is a city located in the Victor Valley of southwestern San Bernardino County, California. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 census, the city had a population of 115,903, up from 64,030 at the 2000 census.-Geography and climate:...
, and began a career as a drug counselor. He was diagnosed with cirrhosis
Cirrhosis
Cirrhosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease characterized by replacement of liver tissue by fibrosis, scar tissue and regenerative nodules , leading to loss of liver function...
in 2007 and was on the list for a transplant at the time of his death.
ESPN.com
ESPN.com
ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...
reported on December 19, 2008, that Ellis had died at USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center
Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center, also known as County/USC, by the abbreviation LAC+USC, or by the name Los Angeles County General, is a 600-bed public teaching hospital located in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, California...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, CA, due to "a liver ailment."
External links
- 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