I've been to dinner at Jimmy Buffet's house, and I've eaten it at a homeless shelter. And there's great joy and harrowing terror to be found in both places.
-Todd Snider
http://www.mydamnchannel.com/channel.aspx?episode=814
Scroll down to hear a song about Ellis, his no hitter, and LSD.
Last edited by 919191; 12-20-2008 at 08:30 AM.
I've been to dinner at Jimmy Buffet's house, and I've eaten it at a homeless shelter. And there's great joy and harrowing terror to be found in both places.
-Todd Snider
From the Baseball Reliquary (whatever that is)...
I remember this incident; it certainly had no bearing on the Reds' failure to win a division title in 1974.
Perhaps Ellis’ most startling act occurred on May 1, 1974, when he tied a major league record by hitting three batters in a row. In spring training that year, Ellis sensed the Pirates had lost the aggressiveness that drove them to three straight division titles from 1970 to 1972. Furthermore, the team now seemed intimidated by Cincinnati’s "Big Red Machine."
"Cincinnati will b------t with us and kick our ass and laugh at us," Ellis said. "They’re the only team that talk about us like a dog."
Ellis single-handedly decided to break the Pirates out of their emotional slump, announcing that "We gonna get down. We gonna do the do. I’m going to hit these m-----------s."
True to his word, in the first inning of the first regular-season game he pitched against the Reds, Ellis hit leadoff batter Pete Rose in the ribs, then plunked Joe Morgan in the kidney, and loaded the bases by hitting Dan Driessen in the back. Tony Perez, batting cleanup, dodged a succession of Ellis’ pitches to walk and force in a run.
The next hitter was Johnny Bench. "I tried to deck him twice," Ellis recalled. "I threw at his jaw, and he moved. I threw at the back of his head, and he moved."
At this point, Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh removed Ellis from the game. But his strategy worked: the Pirates snapped out of their lethargy to win a division title in 1974, while the Reds failed to win their division for the first time in three years.
Ellis started the 1971 AS game, he got killed in 3 IP.
http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1...130ALS1971.htm
Interesting story, but I am reluctant to believe the above assumptions by the author. I see no connections between the happenings in this one game and the results for the entire season. Pretty far-fetched.Originally Posted by Mainspark
This is in the 1975 TSN Baseball Guide, from the Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh (who was ill and not at the game):
"I hear the fight was one of the better ones on a baseball field, there was a change in our club after the fight. No doubt about it. I think the fight helped the Reds, too."
Code:DOCK ELLIS GIVEN NAME: Dock Phillip Ellis BORN: 3/11/1945 Los Angeles, California BAT: B THROW: R HEIGHT: 6'3" WEIGHT: 205 MLB DEBUT: 6/18/1968 YEAR TEAM AGE W L PCT G GS CG SV GF IP H R ER BB SO ERA RSAA 1968 Pirates 23 6 5 .545 26 10 2 0 5 104 82 35 29 38 52 2.51 5 1969 Pirates 24 11 17 .393 35 33 8 0 0 218.2 206 101 87 76 173 3.58 -5 1970 Pirates 25 13 10 .565 30 30 9 0 0 201.2 194 81 72 87 128 3.21 15 1971 Pirates 26 19 9 .679 31 31 11 0 0 226.2 207 93 77 63 137 3.06 9 1972 Pirates 27 15 7 .682 25 25 4 0 0 163.1 156 60 49 33 96 2.70 14 1973 Pirates 28 12 14 .462 28 28 3 0 0 192 176 86 65 55 122 3.05 7 1974 Pirates 29 12 9 .571 26 26 9 0 0 176.2 163 71 62 41 91 3.16 7 1975 Pirates 30 8 9 .471 27 24 5 0 1 140 163 69 59 43 69 3.79 -4 1976 Yankees 31 17 8 .680 32 32 8 0 0 211.2 195 83 75 76 65 3.19 6 1977 Yankees 32 1 1 .500 3 3 1 0 0 19.2 18 9 4 8 5 1.83 5 A's 32 1 5 .167 7 7 0 0 0 26 35 33 28 14 11 9.69 -17 Rangers 32 10 6 .625 23 22 7 1 1 167.1 158 60 54 42 90 2.90 24 TOTALS 12 12 .500 33 32 8 1 1 213 211 102 86 64 106 3.63 12 1978 Rangers 33 9 7 .563 22 22 3 0 0 141.1 131 81 66 46 45 4.20 -10 1979 Rangers 34 1 5 .167 10 9 0 0 0 46.2 64 34 31 16 10 5.98 -9 Mets 34 3 7 .300 17 14 1 0 3 85 110 60 57 34 41 6.04 -23 Pirates 34 0 0 3 1 0 0 0 7 9 2 2 2 1 2.57 1 TOTALS 4 12 .250 30 24 1 0 3 138.2 183 96 90 52 52 5.84 -31 TOTALS 138 119 .537 345 317 71 1 10 2127.2 2067 958 817 674 1136 3.46 25 LG AVERAGE 118 118 .500 82 3 2127.2 2059 980 868 773 1256 3.67 0 YEAR TEAM HR H/9 BR/9 SO/9 BB/9 SO/BB SHO WP IBB HBP BFP BK NW NL 1968 Pirates 4 7.10 10.47 4.50 3.29 1.37 0 6 4 1 426 1 6 5 1969 Pirates 14 8.48 11.77 7.12 3.13 2.28 2 4 7 4 917 2 13 15 1970 Pirates 9 8.66 12.99 5.71 3.88 1.47 4 3 11 10 863 0 13 10 1971 Pirates 15 8.22 10.80 5.44 2.50 2.17 2 4 5 2 943 0 15 13 1972 Pirates 6 8.60 10.58 5.29 1.82 2.91 1 2 4 3 663 0 14 8 1973 Pirates 7 8.25 11.11 5.72 2.58 2.22 1 3 7 6 803 1 14 12 1974 Pirates 13 8.30 10.75 4.64 2.09 2.22 0 5 5 7 731 1 12 9 1975 Pirates 9 10.48 13.44 4.44 2.76 1.60 2 0 9 3 621 2 8 9 1976 Yankees 14 8.29 11.69 2.76 3.23 0.86 1 4 1 4 886 1 13 12 1977 Yankees 1 8.24 11.90 2.29 3.66 0.63 0 1 0 0 85 1 2 0 A's 5 12.12 17.31 3.81 4.85 0.79 0 1 0 1 128 0 1 5 Rangers 13 8.50 10.76 4.84 2.26 2.14 1 4 1 0 685 0 11 5 TOTALS 19 8.92 11.66 4.48 2.70 1.66 1 6 1 1 898 1 14 10 1978 Rangers 15 8.34 11.40 2.87 2.93 0.98 0 3 0 2 592 0 7 9 1979 Rangers 5 12.34 15.43 1.93 3.09 0.63 0 2 2 0 215 0 2 4 Mets 9 11.65 15.35 4.34 3.60 1.21 0 2 10 1 391 0 3 7 Pirates 1 11.57 14.14 1.29 2.57 0.50 0 1 0 0 29 0 0 0 TOTALS 15 11.88 15.32 3.38 3.38 1.00 0 5 12 1 635 0 5 11 TOTALS 140 8.74 11.78 4.81 2.85 1.69 14 45 66 44 8978 9 134 123 LG AVERAGE 174 8.71 12.18 5.31 3.27 1.62 14 70 85 47 9048 9 Sabermetric Baseball Encyclopedia New editions are available every October http://www.baseball-encyclopedia.com
0 Value Over Replacement Poster
"Sit over here next to Johnathan (Bench)...sit right here, he's smart."--Sparky Anderson
Here are some fairly strange paintings based on his life...
http://web.mac.com/jaykaplanstudio/E.../Contents.html
Didn't he claim to have pitched whilst tripping on acid?
0 Value Over Replacement Poster
"Sit over here next to Johnathan (Bench)...sit right here, he's smart."--Sparky Anderson
Ellis is better-known for several incidents:
* 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.
* No-hitting the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970 despite being, as he would claim in 1984, under the influence of LSD throughout the course of the game.[1] Ellis had been visiting friends in Los Angeles under the impression he had the day off and was still high when his 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. Ellis claims catcher Jerry May wore reflective tape on his fingers which helped Ellis to see his target. Ellis walked eight, struck out six, and was aided by excellent fielding plays by second baseman Bill Mazeroski and centerfielder Matty Alou.[2] During the game, Ellis is reported to have commented to his teammates on the bench between innings that he was pitching a no-hitter, despite the superstition that discourages mentioning a no-hitter while it is in progress. 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.[3]
According to Ellis:
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.[4]
* Attempting to hit every batter in the Cincinnati Reds lineup on May 1, 1974. In an effort to prove a point to teammates, Ellis hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Driessen in the top of the first. The clean-up batter Tony Perez avoided Ellis' 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' box score for the game reads: 0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.[5]
* Arguing with and being maced by a Riverfront Stadium security guard on May 5, 1972. The guard claimed 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.[5]
Ellis went on to play for the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, and Texas Rangers, then 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, which was published in 1976. Although Hall knew of the LSD incident, it was not included in the first edition of the book; Ellis was playing for the Yankees when the book was published, and Hall worried that George Steinbrenner would react negatively to such an admission.[citation needed]
Dock Ellis retired to Victorville, California and a career as a drug counselor.[6] He was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver in 2007 and was on the list for a transplant at the time of his death.[7] ESPN reported on December 19, 2008, that Ellis had died at his California home due to "a liver ailment." [8]
That's the subject of the song in my previous post.
I've been to dinner at Jimmy Buffet's house, and I've eaten it at a homeless shelter. And there's great joy and harrowing terror to be found in both places.
-Todd Snider
Some good stuff there 919191. I particularly enjoyed the Lori McKenna and the Guy Clark.
0 Value Over Replacement Poster
"Sit over here next to Johnathan (Bench)...sit right here, he's smart."--Sparky Anderson
I have a hard time believing this quote. The BRM from everything I know and read about them were a very classy bunch.
"Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard
Oh, I believe every word of it. They were good, they had supreme confidence, and they didn't take crap from anyone.
In other words, the BRM was not a bunch of nice guys, not Casper Milquetoasts.
Last edited by Always Red; 12-20-2008 at 11:38 PM.
sorry we're boring
The quote Ellis made in regards to the BRM gave me the impression that he regarded the BRM in the same light as say the Detroit Pistons of the late 80's. which were far from a classy bunch.
No doubt the BRM had confidence and a large share of arrogance but I just can't see other than from maybe Pete, the trash talking coming from them. For the most part they were a pretty professional bunch.
"Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard
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