He was originally called upon as a relief pitcher, moving into the starting rotation gradually throughout the season. Returning to Columbus at the start of 1968, the tutelage of manager Johnny Pesky and pitching coach Harvey Haddix helped get him to the big leagues.ĭock debuted in the bigs in June 1968. Several white teammates circulated a petition among themselves, accusing Dock of malingering and cutting him out of a share of postseason money. He reached Triple A with the Columbus Jets in 1967, suffering a leg injury during the stretch run that sapped his ability to pitch. He beat the Cleveland Indians in an exhibition game during July 1965 and was a Double A All-Star with the Southern League Asheville Tourists in 1966, He finished 10-9, 2.77 and spent some time with the big league club, although he did not get into a game. With a $2,500 signing bonus and $500 a month in hand, Dock reported to the Batavia Pirates and began working his way up the Pirate chain. Brewer's (as he referred to Chet) team, he held out for at least $60,000 in signing money until an arrest for stealing a car led to probation. Knowing the Pittsburgh Pirates would come for him as a part of Mr. He attended the junior college Los Angeles Harbor College. Despite playing in only four games, Dock was named All-League. Even then, he only played due to the threat of expulsion after being caught drinking and smoking marijuana in the boys bathroom. Attending Gardena High School, Dock did not go out for baseball until his senior year due to an older player using a racial slur in speaking of him. Teammates included fellow major leaguers Willie Crawford, Bobby Tolan, Reggie Smith and Bob Watson, among several big leaguers to pass through. After baseball, he helped troubled youth overcome their own issues with drugs and alcohol.ĭock starred for the "Pittsburgh Pirate Rookies" in his youth and young manhood, a team of youngsters in the Los Angeles area put together by former Negro Leagues pitcher Chet Brewer. An outspoken African-American pitcher in an era where it was still frowned upon for players to speak up and out against injustices small or large, he may be the only man in history to throw a no-hitter while zonked on the hallucinogenic LSD. He was one of the more controversial figures of his generation.
DOC ELLIS LSD GAME SERIES
He won one World Series ring, the same year he was part of Pittsburgh's historic lineup featuring only African-American and Afro-Latino players. He won 138 games in the majors and often made the league leaderboards in pitching. I jumped, but the ball wasn't hit hard and never reached me." - Dock Ellis, on his famous no-hitterĭock Ellis was an All-Star pitcher and later Comeback Player of the Year. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. 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. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. Sometimes, I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't. I remember hitting a couple of batters, and the bases were loaded two or three times. I was zeroed in on the glove, but I didn't hit the glove too much. Here is another thing he did: In the spring of 1974, Dock Ellis decided he was sick of the Cincinnati Reds’ shit."I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. He did big things that resounded in American culture and little things that reshaped lives. He counseled addicts and inmates before he died in 2008. Later in life, he kicked drugs and drinking. He lobbied Congress to fund research into sickle-cell anemia. He railed against the prejudice black men faced in his sport. Most remember him for the day in 1970 when he dropped acid and threw a no-hitter. “What the fuck is it with this guy?” Bevacqua asked. Details become blurry when legends are being made, but Bevacqua can still recall his bewilderment. Ellis didn’t give his new teammate much time to consider the terms. “Hey rook,” Ellis told Bevacqua, “I bet you a Chateaubriand I don’t get out of the first inning when I face the Reds.” Bevacqua was not exactly sure what Ellis was talking about, or why Ellis thought he was still a rookie (he wasn’t).
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Kurt Bevacqua was shagging in the outfield when Dock Ellis jogged past. The bet was made in the spring of 1974, while the Pittsburgh Pirates took batting practice in Bradenton, Fla.
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Editor’s Note: This story was included in The Athletic’s Best of 2020.