On this date in 1970, Dock Ellis of the Pirates, allegedly under the influence of LSD, no-hits the Padres 2-0.
"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 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 umpire, and once I thought I was pitching to Jimi Hendrix who to me was holding a guitar and swinging it over the plate."
5 comments:
Todd Snider has a great song about this event. Definitely worth checking it out!
He was quoted as saying that if it weren't for baseball, he would be in jail.
Obviously now deceased but as I recall, years before his death, he had quit the drugs and was counseling others so a bit of redemption there I guess.
I still question whether he pitched a no-hitter high on LSD but that is a part of baseball folklore not to be messed with.
Don't mess with it. If it wasn't for that story, we wouldn't really remember Dock Ellis.
Here's a better card of Dock.
I am going to email that image to my co-worker who seemed to be nodding off just a few minutes ago.
Post a Comment