How is this possible?

[nalafej]

Did Todd really write this song? Was it ever performed?

 

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

[mountain bed]

Did Todd really write this song? Was it ever performed?

I'm not sure, but we need to send out teh bat-signal for Lammycat - I know he'd know.

[Lammycat]

Just getting around to this thread. Yes, Todd has performed the tune live. Todd's a big baseball fan, as well. Here's a clip of him doing the tune in a hotel room:

 

I caught this on another site: Apparently Ellis had a short fuse (besides being a little loopy, to boot) and on a slated day to pitch still held a grudge against the Reds from some previous bean-balling or HBP deal earlier in the season. He told his teammates he was going to just throw at all batters until he was tossed. And did. He hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Dreissen, then walked Tony Perez. Then, after throwing twice at Johnny Bench's head he was pulled by manager Danny Murtaugh. "0" innings pitched!

Check out the box score-

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PI...197405010.shtml

[MrRain422]

I caught this on another site: Apparently Ellis had a short fuse (besides being a little loopy, to boot) and on a slated day to pitch still held a grudge against the Reds from some previous bean-balling or HBP deal earlier in the season. He told his teammates he was going to just throw at all batters until he was tossed. And did. He hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Dreissen, then walked Tony Perez. Then, after throwing twice at Johnny Bench's head he was pulled by manager Danny Murtaugh. "0" innings pitched!

Check out the box score-

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PI...197405010.shtml

 

The grudge actually wasn't even from earlier in the season -- it was from spring training.

[Lammycat]

The grudge actually wasn't even from earlier in the season -- it was from spring training.

According to Snopes, Ellis felt his teammates had "lost their aggressiveness" and were "too easily intimidated"....

http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/ellis.asp

[mountain bed]

Just getting around to this thread. Yes, Todd has performed the tune live. Todd's a big baseball fan, as well. Here's a clip of him doing the tune in a hotel room:

 

I caught this on another site: Apparently Ellis had a short fuse (besides being a little loopy, to boot) and on a slated day to pitch still held a grudge against the Reds from some previous bean-balling or HBP deal earlier in the season. He told his teammates he was going to just throw at all batters until he was tossed. And did. He hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Dreissen, then walked Tony Perez. Then, after throwing twice at Johnny Bench's head he was pulled by manager Danny Murtaugh. "0" innings pitched!

Check out the box score-

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PI...197405010.shtml

I knew you would be there with the info, man. Thanks for the vid - I gots me a new song to learn!

[nalafej]

I love this thread. Please tell me there are more crazy stories.

[Moss]

There's also a story about Dock throwing a ball at Reggie Jackson's face because he was mad about the 500 ft home run Reggie blasted off him. Any truth to that one?

[bjorn_skurj]

There's also a story about Dock throwing a ball at Reggie Jackson's face because he was mad about the 500 ft home run Reggie blasted off him. Any truth to that one?

I've heard that too. The homer was in an All-Star game, I think.

[mfwahl]

Video of said home run:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jJLAPtMevg

It's also important to note that he loved hair curlers

http://www.baseballreliquary.org/EllisCurlers.htm

[Sir Stewart]

Apparently Ellis had a short fuse (besides being a little loopy, to boot) and on a slated day to pitch still held a grudge against the Reds from some previous bean-balling or HBP deal earlier in the season. He told his teammates he was going to just throw at all batters until he was tossed. And did. He hit Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, and Dan Dreissen, then walked Tony Perez. Then, after throwing twice at Johnny Bench's head he was pulled by manager Danny Murtaugh. "0" innings pitched!

Check out the box score-

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PI...197405010.shtml

 

Imagine beaning Joe Morgan.