I recently came across an interesting site called The Baseball Requilary, which describes itself as “a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history”. TBR, in a fascinating piece, elected Dock Ellis to its “Shrine of the Eternals” in 1999. After reading his bio, it seems wrong that EWC hasn’t yet appropriately paid homage to Dock Phillip Ellis Jr., a tough-as-nails pitcher and advocate of racial equality.

Ellis, who won 19 games in 1971 for the World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates, was known throughout his career as a fiery leader who fought for the rights of black players and free agency. According to TBR, Ellis, even at a young age

“refused to play baseball at his high school in Gardenia, California to protest his coach’s racism. While in the minor leagues in 1964, he went into the stands and swung a leaded bat at a racist heckler in Batavia, New York.”

In 1972, Ellis was maced at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium by a security guard who refused to grant him access to his team’s clubhouse. (The guard was later fired and the Reds apologized). In 1973, then-commissioner Bowie Kuhn issued an order towards Ellis and other other players to ‘cease and desist’ wearing hair curlers to the ballpark after Ebony magazine began running articles about his hairstyles.

On May 1st, 1974, Ellis earned the dubious distinction of becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to hit three consecutive batters.

From TBR:

In spring training that year, Ellis sensed the Pirates had lost the aggressiveness that drove them to three straight division titles from 1970 to 1972. Furthermore, the team now seemed intimidated by Cincinnati’s “Big Red Machine.” “Cincinnati will bullshit with us and kick our ass and laugh at us,” Ellis said. “They’re the only team that talk about us like a dog.” Ellis single-handedly decided to break the Pirates out of their emotional slump, announcing that “We gonna get down. We gonna do the do. I’m going to hit these motherfuckers.” True to his word, in the first inning of the first regular-season game he pitched against the Reds, Ellis hit leadoff batter Pete Rose in the ribs, then plunked Joe Morgan in the kidney, and loaded the bases by hitting Dan Driessen in the back. Tony Perez, batting cleanup, dodged a succession of Ellis’ pitches to walk and force in a run. The next hitter was Johnny Bench. “I tried to deck him twice,” Ellis recalled. “I threw at his jaw, and he moved. I threw at the back of his head, and he moved.” At this point, Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh removed Ellis from the game. But his strategy worked: the Pirates snapped out of their lethargy to win a division title in 1974, while the Reds failed to win their division for the first time in three years.

On June 12, 1970, Ellis threw a no-hitter under the influence of LSD. Ellis–who ironically later became the coordinator of an anti-drug program in L.A.– nearly missed his game that day, but fortunately for him his girlfriend reminded him he had to pitch. He walked eight batters en route (Box Score Here).

Ellis claims that he was unable to feel the ball or clearly see the batter or catcher during the game. In an interview in a 1993 article from the San Francisco-based publication called “Lysergic World”, he recalled his now infamous no-no:

“I was in Los Angeles, and the team was playing in San Diego , but I didn’t know it. I had taken LSD….. I thought it was an off-day, that’s how come I had it in me. I took the LSD at noon. At 1pm…my girlfriend… looked at the paper and said, “Dock, you’re pitching today!”

“That’s when it was $9.50 to fly to San Diego. She got me to the airport at 3:30. I got there at 4:30, and the game started at 6:05pm. It was a twi-night doubleheader.

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. 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.”

In Ellis’ post-baseball career, he undertook several praiseworthy social projects, including working with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections to rehabilitate black prisoners and raising money for research and the treatment of sickle-cell anemia. He also volunteered in community hospitals.

Ellis currently resides in Apple Valley, California. Sadly, he is currently fighting for his life, battling Cirrhosis of the liver without health insurance and awaiting a transplant. Ellis’ wife Hjordis has questioned the quality of the care he receives since he is uninsured and contends he often receives poor care.According to the New York Post:

A few of Ellis’ friends, led by David Reich, the son of his former agent Tom Reich, have tried to change that. They brought Ellis to UCLA Medical Center recently and Reich paid for his exams. If Ellis is found to be healthy enough, he could be placed on a liver transplant list in the upcoming weeks.

Reich has enlisted the help of Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, who is on the board of the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.). Along with executive director Jim Martin, Morgan and B.A.T. have begun to help Ellis. Yankees president Randy Levine also has given Ellis a commitment that the team he helped lead to the 1976 American League pennant will aid him.

EWC salutes you, Dock Ellis, and we wish you the best and a healthy recovery.