RIP Dock Ellis

[mattstick]

Los Angeles, April 8, 1984- Former Pittsburgh Pirates' pitcher Dock Ellis says he was under the influence of LSD when he pitched a 1970 no-hitter against the San Diego Padres.

Ellis, now co-ordinator of an anti drug program in Los Angeles, said he didn't know until six hours before his June 12, 1970 no hitter that he was going to pitch.

"I was in Los Angeles, and the team was playing in San Diego , but I didn't know it. I had taken LSD..... I thought it was an off-day, that's how come I had it in me. I took the LSD at noon. At 1pm, his girlfriend and trip partner looked at the paper and said, "Dock, you're pitching today!"

"That's when it was $9.50 to fly to San Diego. She got me to the airport at 3:30. I got there at 4:30, and the game started at 6:05pm. It was a twi-night doubleheader.

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. 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 Pirates won the game, 2-0, although Ellis walked eight batters. It was the highpoint in the baseball career of one of the finer pitchers of his time, and arguably,one of the greatest achievements in the history of sports.

[rowjimmy]

 
Here's to the Dock!

[sls.stormyrider]

I remember watching that game - he was pitching out of his mind

RIP Doc

[mattstick]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Online-petition-asks-MLB-Network-to-air-Dock-Ell?urn=mlb,202845

Online petition asks MLB Network to air Dock Ellis no-no on LSD

You've been told the bedtime stories, you've read the eyewitness accounts.

You've heard the personal testimony, you've seen the Oscar-worthy short animated movie.

Maybe you've even read the Bantam Book.

Now, sign the online petition so everyone can watch video of Pirates right-hander Dock Ellis throwing a no-hitter while, legend has it, he was tripping on psychedelic drugs.

The enterprising fellas at The Slanch Report have started an online petition urging the MLB Network to raid its archives in search of Dock's no-no, which originally came at San Diego on June 12, 1970.

It's an inspired request, wanting to watch Ellis work his, ahem, "magic" against the Friars. That day, he walked eight and hit another guy but still managed to pitch one of the 263 no-no's in major league history — all while "as high as a Georgia Pine," as he put it.

But before MLB Network starts rummaging through its files, there are some questions that need answers.

• Was the game even broadcast on TV? It was 1970, not 1990, and the TV contract wasn't as comprehensive in those days. There is hope, in that the Pirates were one of the best teams in the league at the time and the game didn't happen on a Saturday afternoon, when it might have been blacked out because of the national game on NBC.

• Does a copy still exist?/Can one be found? We're video pack rats compared with folks from 35 years ago. They erased Johnny Carson shows routinely in those days, so what's one more baseball game? Even a no-hitter.

• Does Major League Baseball want to "celebrate" a so-called drug-induced event? No matter its historical context or importance to popular baseball culture, what Ellis said he did, it wasn't legal. It wasn't right. An argument can be made that, no matter how entertaining some of us find it, Dock Ellis pitching a no-hitter on acid is embarrassing and shameful. Baseball certainly might feel that way. Not to be a party pooper.

This generation has seen Dock pitch before, but usually it's video of Reggie Jackson famously taking him high and deep in the 1971 All-Star Game, and there's Word Series film of him in '71 and 76. I want to see the no-hitter, but I also wonder if MLB would feel likewise.

[rowjimmy]

I remember watching that game - he was pitching out of his mind

RIP Doc

This answers the "was it aired" question, doesn't it?

[Hicks]

Wow, never heard that story before, good stuff.

RIP,  errr a year late.    :-D

[redrum]

RIP

LSD

[hesthemamba]

http://www.youtube.com/v/_vUhSYLRw14&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0

[hesthemamba]

thanks rj, i think i might even be able to embed it all by myself next time :roll:

[rowjimmy]

np

[sls.stormyrider]

rip Doc

[mattstick]

Great shirt.

http://www.nomas-nyc.com/t-shirts/208-tripsburgh.html

[Buffalo Budd]

Here's to the Dock!

[whyweigh5.0]

I really like that shirt.  But $32 :roll: