How is this possible?

[Moss]

Claim: Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis hurled a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD.

 

Status: True

[cryptique]

Have you ever been on LSD?

 

 

I, for one, can totally see this happening. I wouldn't want to try it myself (I shy away from crowds even on a normal day).

[bjorn_skurj]

We only have Dock's word for it, as related in the book "Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball" by Donald Hall, which is really good, btw, and in later sources. Dock walked eight and hit a batter that day.

 

RIP, Dock.

[Moss]

I have been on LSD and I can't imagine trying to function effectively in front of thousands of people and actually perform well. Never could understand how Hendrix could play guitar on LSD either. We tried smoking pot before practice once and spent the next 3 hours trying to tune our instruments.

[Oil Can Boyd]

Here is Ellis describing it:

 

"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, his girlfriend and trip partner 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."

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

That's really weird. I was just talking about this with the wife and came across the snopes link earlier today. The trigger for me was hearing Bill Lee on the radio and being reminded of other chemically enhanced ballplayers.

[Edie]

Does video evidence exist? You could likely tell by his behavior between pitches.

[bjorn_skurj]

Oddly, I have never heard of any being offered.

[Moss]

Would be interesting to see video. His pupils were probably huge! Diving out of the way of a ball that does not even get to you, that's the kind of stuff I was picturing. Thanks for sending that description.

[cryptique]

I'd love to watch video of that game.

 

I remember being able to summon incredible focus -- when needed -- which is why I can see this happening.

[MrRain422]

Not to mention the high level of luck that goes into any no-hitter. Still remarkable if true though.

[Edie]

I loved driving when on acid -- and I did it pretty well. At least I think I did....

[bjorn_skurj]

I liked reading poetry on acid and walking around Manhattan. Drove a few times - keeping one's mind on the road while it wanted to contemplate the universe at warp speed was the challenge.

[miss jayne]

Wow what a beautiful story...I can totally understand that happening. "Dock,your pitching today." I say good on him for describing it. So, sad he didn't get the liver transplant he needed. On a side note, I lived in Sarasota and the spring training days and parties were legendary. I recall several nights of "enhanced" star gazing and swimming

[Moss]

Of course there are plenty of stories of Mickey Mantle and others playing while drunk but that just does not seem as impressive. My experience with LSD is very limited though. I just remember quite a bit of giggling and zoning out. It was a long time ago.

[Edie]

Can you imagine all the trails???

 

Not to mention the aural hallucinations. I could take the wild visuals, but when I started hearing shit, that was awful.

[Moss]

Yeah, being on Acid and knowing there is someone standing in front of me with the possibility of driving a ball straight at my head at 100 MPH would be a real downer.

[bjorn_skurj]

Yeah, being on Acid and knowing there is someone standing in front of me with the possibility of driving a ball straight at my head at 100 MPH would be a real downer.

He was facing the 1970 San Diego Padres. He was probably pretty safe out there.

[mountain bed]

He was facing the 1970 San Diego Padres. He was probably pretty safe out there.

QFT.

[Moss]

Good Point!

 

I wonder if Mark Fidrych was ever on acid on the mound? Would explain some of the behavior.

[mountain bed]

Todd Snider's Take - America's Favorite Pastime

 

America's Favorite Pastime - The Ballad of Dock Ellis

Unreleased

 

dock ellis didnt think he would pitch that day

back in 1970

when he and his wife took a trip to the ballpark

a little bit differently

so by the time he hit the bullpen

half the world had melted away

thats about the time coach murtaugh said

hey dock your pitching today

 

taking the ground the mound turned into

the icing on a birthday cake

the lead off man came up and turned into

a dancing rattle snake

the crowd tracked back and forth

in waves of color under the sun

the ball turned into a silver bullett

his arm into a gun

 

i took a look all around the world one time

finally discovered

you cant judge a book

 

three up three down for three straight innings

in a zero zero tie

as all those batters names came ringing

from some voice out of the sky

hallucinating halloween scenes

each new swing of the bat

his sinker looked like it was falling off a table

but nobody was hallucinating that

 

i took a look all around the world one time

finally discovered

you cant judge a book

 

by the top of the fifth he was up one to nothing

and giving the padres fits

by the top of the seventh he was up two to nothing

and they still had'nt got any hits

with one out left to go in the game

the batter looked like a little child

the birthday caking was shaking

and those waves of color were going wild

 

when he finally mowed the last man down

he was high as he had ever been

laughing to the sound of the world going around

completely unaware of the win

and while the papers would say he was scattered that day

he was pretty as a pitcher could be

the day dock ellis of the pittsburg pirates

threw a no hitter on lsd

 

i took a look all around the world one time

finally discovered

you cant judge a book

[Moss]

Classic!

[mfwahl]

I can't find anything to verify this, but I've heard that the term "no-no" came from this game because Dock was too messed up to say no-hitter. I've also heard the catcher wore reflective tape on his mitt so that Dock could see the target through his visuals.

 

R.I.P. Dock.

[Moss]

And Ravi Shankar came out and did "Take me out to the ballgame" on Sitar.

[NightOfJoy]

I'd love to watch video of that game.

 

I remember being able to summon incredible focus -- when needed -- which is why I can see this happening.

 

I had a similar experience.......throwing darts in a pals garage, I could not miss........someone would say hit #5 and I would. Hit the bullseye.......bingo! Hit double 3, no problem. Best night of darts evah!!