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Ex-pitcher Ellis dies of liver disease (Dock Ellis pitched no-hitter under influence of LSD)
ESPN.com ^ | December 19, 2008 | Jerry Crasnick

Posted on 12/19/2008 8:51:41 PM PST by EveningStar

Dock Ellis, the former major league pitcher best remembered for his flamboyance and social activism as a member of the great Pittsburgh Pirates teams of the 1970s, died Friday of a liver ailment in California, his former agent, Tom Reich, confirmed. Ellis was 63.

Ellis spent 12 years in the majors with Pittsburgh, the New York Yankees, Oakland, Texas and the New York Mets. He retired in 1979 with a record of 138-119, but was best known for several colorful incidents on and off the field.

(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: baseball; dockellis; mlb; obituary; pittsburgh
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1 posted on 12/19/2008 8:51:41 PM PST by EveningStar
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To: All
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_Ellis
2 posted on 12/19/2008 8:53:13 PM PST by EveningStar
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To: EveningStar

Those Pittsburgh uniforms were really something.


3 posted on 12/19/2008 8:58:13 PM PST by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: EveningStar; BluesDuke; ken5050; martin_fierro; mikrofon
"Dock was such a likeable person -- very gregarious, very outgoing. I would set up personal appearances for him, and after like 30 seconds, people were like relatives or neighbors. Dock was very easy to talk to. He was just a pleasure to be around."

I met Dock Ellis back in the early 1970s (I was in my late teens, he was in his mid-20s) and had a good conversation with him. He was a friendly, gregarious guy--I have to agree. A bit of an odd duck, had the reputation for being a wild guy, but he did have a certain likeability and charisma.

4 posted on 12/19/2008 8:59:38 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Lifelong baseball fan)
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To: EveningStar

Beaning a batter in an All Star game (unlike today, nothing was on the line) is every bit as bad as scumbag Pete Rose damn near killing Ray Fosse.


5 posted on 12/19/2008 9:01:01 PM PST by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: Charles Henrickson
had the reputation for being a wild guy, but he did have a certain likeability and charisma.

Sort of like OJ.

6 posted on 12/19/2008 9:02:03 PM PST by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: EveningStar

7 posted on 12/19/2008 9:02:44 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Lifelong baseball fan)
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To: EveningStar; Charles Henrickson; mikrofon; SoothingDave; xsmommy; Tijeras_Slim

He and Luke Garber signed my baseball mitt one night at the old Three Rivers Stadium.

I guess his “Goo Goo Ga Joob” comment makes more sense now.


8 posted on 12/19/2008 9:04:22 PM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: EveningStar
"Dock was such a likeable person -- very gregarious, very outgoing. I would set up personal appearances for him, and after like 30 seconds, people were like relatives or neighbors. Dock was very easy to talk to. He was just a pleasure to be around."

Sorta like John Rocker, eh?

9 posted on 12/19/2008 9:04:23 PM PST by the invisib1e hand (appeasement is collaboration.)
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To: EveningStar

Got to die of something!


10 posted on 12/19/2008 9:06:08 PM PST by SWAMPSNIPER (THE SECOND AMENDMENT, A MATTER OF FACT, NOT A MATTER OF OPINION)
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To: EveningStar
Dock in later years:


11 posted on 12/19/2008 9:06:49 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Lifelong baseball fan)
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To: buccaneer81; martin_fierro

Living on the north side of Chicago and going to hundreds and hundreds of games in the late’60s and early ‘70s, I saw all the players of the NL a lot. The Pirates were noteworthy for, among other things, having some hard-throwing black pitchers: Bob Veale, Alvin McBean, and Dock Ellis come immediately to mind.


12 posted on 12/19/2008 9:11:03 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Lifelong baseball fan)
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To: EveningStar
Dock said that two brothers would not be starting pitchers in the 1971 All Star game. Wrong.
13 posted on 12/19/2008 9:12:51 PM PST by steelyourfaith
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To: martin_fierro; mikrofon
He and Luke Garber. . . .

Do you mean Gene Garber? I don't remember a Luke Garber.

(Garber in, Garber out.)

14 posted on 12/19/2008 9:14:54 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Garber: "I vant to be alone.")
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To: Charles Henrickson
My first MLB game was in 1969. I was six, and living in Boston.

But 1969 at Wrigley must have killed you at the end.

15 posted on 12/19/2008 9:16:01 PM PST by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: buccaneer81
But 1969 at Wrigley must have killed you at the end.

Absolutely. It was very traumatic and depressing to me, 16 years old and a huge Cubs fan.

16 posted on 12/19/2008 9:18:49 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (Born and raised on the north side of the city)
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To: Charles Henrickson
But 1969 at Wrigley must have killed you at the end. Absolutely. It was very traumatic and depressing to me, 16 years old and a huge Cubs fan.

Living in Boston, that was me in 1975 and worse in 1978.

By 1986, I was immune.

17 posted on 12/19/2008 9:21:19 PM PST by buccaneer81 (Bob Taft has soiled the family name for the next century.)
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To: Charles Henrickson
One day Dock Ellis had curly hair and white tie ups. He looked like he belonged in an Our Gang movie.

Here is something nobody but us Burgh people know. Dock would stay after every game (outside the park) and sign autographs as long as there were people there.

A little kookie yes, but a great person.

18 posted on 12/19/2008 9:31:25 PM PST by AGreatPer (Obama is not my president until we see his birth certificate. A real one.)
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To: buccaneer81

As I recall, 1975 was his last year — the year before the fat pin stripes (ugly!), and then the gold with black and the black with gold. As I recall the fat pin stripes were eventually replaced by white.


19 posted on 12/19/2008 9:31:47 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: EveningStar
In one game against the Cincinnati reds Dock Ellis hit the first three batters.

To see his carer stats go here:

http://baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=ellisdo01

20 posted on 12/19/2008 9:33:18 PM PST by fkabuckeyesrule (Na na na na na na na na hey ALAN good-bye!!!!!!!)
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