Thursday, July 31, 2008

Dropping some Ellis, D.


On June 12, 1970, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter while tripping on LSD.


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.

Another interesting Dock Ellis anecdote: In a game on May 1, 1974, in what he claimed was an attempt to rouse his teammates from lethargy, he attempted to hit every batter in the Cincinnati Reds lineup. 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.

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