| Five Hundred FortyFifth in the Famous People (FP) Series - Dock Ellis |
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Dock Phillip Ellis, Jr. (March 11, 1945 – December 19, 2008) was a Major League Baseball player who pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates, among other teams. 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 the claim that he threw a no-hitter in 1970 while under the influence of LSD.
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."
Were there other incidents in his playing career? You bet. There was 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.
There was arguing with and being maced by a Riverfront Stadium security guard on May 5, 1972.
There was the game where Ellis attempted 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's 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.
Yeah, I'd say there were a few incidents. But let's be fair....no make that Fairgrounds. Because that's where you will find this small plastic bottle tethered in place. Fairgrounds Cemetery, very near Dock Ridge Jr.'s marker. Oh, one other note. Dock Ellis was with the Texas Rangers from '77-'79. But then, who hasn't been through our major league farm team in Arlington?
FP cemetery caches are always placed with regards to the location, so please be mindful of your presence here, watch where you step and be respectful of the residents interred here. Please carefully re-hide the container better to maintain the integrity of the cache.