Dock Ellis' Big Trip

It’s June 12 1970. Pittsburgh Pirates versus San Diego Padres in Major League Baseball. Pitcher, Dock Ellis, is on the mound for the Pirates, but he isn’t exactly having his best game. He’s throwing pitches in the dirt, he’s hitting batters, he’s all over the shop. Because right in the middle of a professional baseball game, Dock Ellis is high on LSD.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
It's June twelfth, nineteen seventy Pittsburgh Pirates versus San Diego
Padres in Major League Baseball. Behind home plate stands the
umpire for tonight's game, President Richard Nixon. As the defense
finish their warm up, basster Jimmy Hendrix steps up to
the plate. Hendrix takes a few practice swings, then gets

(00:25):
set to face his first pitch, but the pitcher notices
that Hendricks isn't swinging a baseball bat.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
It's an electric guitar.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
No rock and roll legend, Jimmy Hendrix never played baseball,
and Richard Nixon most certainly did not moonlight as a
major league umpire. All of this is in picture Doc
Ellis's head because right in the middle of a professional
baseball game.

Speaker 2 (00:55):
He's high on LSD.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
HI.

Speaker 2 (01:08):
I'm Tony Armstrong.

Speaker 1 (01:09):
Welcome to the pool room, where we celebrate the winners, losers,
and the weird stuff between. Doc's career in the big

(01:34):
leagues took off pretty quickly. He went from being in
the minor leagues to a relief pitcher before making it
as a regular starter for the Pirates. All of a sudden,
he was playing against the best in the world. Under
immense pressure. This was pretty hard for Doc. He had
a huge fear of failure. He'd be kept awake at
night worrying about letting his teammates down. That's not uncommon

(01:56):
for professional athletes, especially those who get thrown into the spotlight,
but in Doc's case, he turned to using drugs to cope.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Pills. Mostly usually he didn't let.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
Drug taking effect his game, but one night the two
factors collided, resulting in one of the most remarkable games
in baseball history. It's Thursday, the eleventh of June nineteen seventy.
The Pirates have just arrived in San Diego. They'll face

(02:30):
the Padres in a doubleheader tomorrow, but today's an off
day for the players. Doc Ellis gets permission from the
coach to head to his hometown of La so he
can catch up with an old friend. He hires a
car for the short trip north, but before he leaves,
he takes a hit of acid, the idea being that
the drug would kick in as he arrives. When he

(02:55):
eventually turns up at his friend's door, she notices that
something's up. Doc confess. He says, and I'm quoting here,
that he's as high as a Georgia Pine. Doc and
his friends spend the evening catching up on old times.
They indulge in several drinks and some wheat. Eventually Doc
falls asleep. When he wakes up, he takes some more LSD.

(03:20):
Then his friend enters the room with a concerned look
on her face. She's holding up a newspaper and reading
the sports section. It says the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing
the Padres tonight and Doc Ellis is listed as the
starting pitcher.

Speaker 2 (03:34):
What happens to yesterday? Says Doc? He thought it was
still Thursday.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
In fact, it was two pm on Friday and he
was due at the San Diego Ballpark in four short hours.
So Doc jumps in a taxi to the airport, catching
a three thirty flight back to San Diego. He lands

(04:08):
an hour later and makes his way to the stadium,
plenty of time to spare. But the problem is that
Doc is still high on acid and he's about to
pitch a Major League baseball game. Doc heads into the
locker room and gets changed into his uniform. Now by
this point, his teammates know that he's high on something.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
They just don't know that it's LSD. Regardless.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
The catcher puts reflective tape on his fingers to make
it easier for Doc to see his hand signals. Those
indicate what kind of pitch he should throw. It's a
misty night. As the Pirates head onto the field, Doc
stands on the mound trying to focus, but it's immediately
clear that this is not going to be a normal
game of baseball. Doc delivers the first pitch to get

(04:53):
things underway. In his day's state of mind, he can
barely see the batters. All he can make out is
if they're right or left handed. But amazingly, he gets
through the first two innings without giving up a hit.
The second baseman calls out, you've got a no no going,

(05:14):
meaning a no hitter. Yeah right, replies Doc. The other
players are trying to shut the basement up. It's a
superstition that you never mentioned a no hitter during a game.
But as the innings pass by, Doc's no hit performance continues.

(05:35):
Now Doc isn't exactly having his best game. He's throwing
pitchures in the dirt, he's hitting batters, he's all over
the place. But still the Padres can't get any hits.
Every couple of innings, the second baseman yells out again,
you've got a no no going.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
Meanwhile, Doc has seen people who aren't even there.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
Several times he makes a dive for it or jumps
out of the way, completely misjudging the pace of the ball.
Sometimes the ball looks huge and he's afraid to catch it,
but other times it looks tiny, like it's been shrunk.
And then there's the times when he can't even see
it all. By the bottom of the ninth inning, the

(06:21):
Pirates are leading to nothing. San Diego still have no hits.
The crowd are on their feet, and the Pittsburgh players
are on edge. It comes down to the final out.
Doc Ellis takes the mound and winds up one, two,
three strikes and he's done it. The Pirates win and

(06:47):
Dock secures a no hitter, a feat that many of
the best pitchers never achieve, and he's done it while
under the influence.

Speaker 2 (06:54):
Of psychedelic drugs.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
The truth about that night in nineteen to seventy didn't
come out until years.

Speaker 2 (07:02):
Later, after Doc had retired.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
He confessed to taking LSD before his no hit a game,
and admitted that throughout his entire baseball career, not once
did he pitch a game sober, whether it was alcohol
or a variety of other drugs he was taking.

Speaker 2 (07:23):
But the Doc Eller story didn't end there.

Speaker 1 (07:26):
He knew he had a problem and he wanted to change.
Following his career, Doc entered rehab and got clean for good.
Then he dedicated the rest of his life to helping
others overcome drug addiction. Some of the people he helped

(07:46):
even credit to Doc for saving their lives. While his
LSD story became baseball legend, his sobriety and commitment to
helping others is his true legacy.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Thanks for listening to the Ballroom.

Speaker 1 (08:17):
I'm taking a break for a few weeks, but I'll
be back with more incredible sports stories really soon. And
if you have a great story that you'd love to
hear on the Pullroom, I want to know about it.
Go to the Pullroom podcast dot com to send me
a message. You've been listening to an iHeart production. I'm
Tony Armstrong and I'll speak to you soon.