Dock Ellis

If you're a fan of baseball, then you know the name Dock Ellis.

Ellis was a star pitcher in the 1970's, mostly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was on the the Pirates' 1971 championship team, as well as other good squads from that era, part of a decent rotation that along with a powerful bunch of hitters led the National League around a time that the Dodgers and then Reds were about to take off.

But what makes Ellis a real baseball legend, and the only person in a certain elite club, was his ability to succeed at the game while at times not taking it too seriously. Ellis addressed issues of race at a time that not many athletes did, and when it was more difficult for black athletes to be honest about their feelings about sport and society. That was the serious part.

Where he has earned an eternal star, and that hyper-elite club of one membership, was with the no-hitter he pitched against the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970. Quite the spirit, Ellis decided to drop acid earlier that day, for some reason under the impression that the Pirates had a day off in San Diego. Not only was Ellis mistaken about work that day, but he was scheduled to be the starting pitcher in the first game of a doubleheader.

This was hardly a perfect game, as Ellis walked 8, and plunked one. But it was a no-hitter, the first and most likely only no hitter ever thrown by a pitcher on acid. One interview with Ellis that I recall reading had him remembering the catcher's glove looked huge to him that day, so he just aimed for the big thing staring right at him. I guess that helps.

Now we should find out whether Joe Namath dropped a tab before the Super Bowl III, or Gretzky before any Stanley Cup Final, or Jordan before Game 6 of the 1998 finals against Utah. That would be a story. And because it's not, it's what makes Ellis' contribution to the game that much more significant.