Documentary about psychedelic pitcher Dock Ellis

Oh, you know how we at BB love baseball player Dock Ellis who in 1970 pitched a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates while tripping balls on LSD. Ellis was quite a character. I hope this film about Ellis, titled "No No: A Dockumentary," gets finished! From the Kickstarter page:

During his 12 years in the major leagues, Dock lived the expression "black is beautiful." He wore curlers on the field. He stepped out of his Cadillac wearing the widest bell bottoms and the broadest collars. When he put on his uniform, he was one of the most intimidating pitchers of the 1970s.

Dock was often at the forefront of controversy and has been called the “Muhammad Ali of Baseball.” He was an outspoken leader of a new wave of civil rights in sports, when black athletes were no longer content to accept second-class treatment or keep their mouths shut about indignities. For this, the press labeled him a militant.

But that’s only half the story…

After Dock retired from baseball, he was as outspoken about his addictions to alcohol and amphetamines (aka “greenies”) as he had been about racial prejudice during his career. He spent his last decades using that blunt honesty as a counselor helping other addicts, until his death from liver disease in 2008.

"No No: A Dockumentary (about Dock Ellis)" (Thanks, Jenn Shreve and a half!)

• [alfanovember]

  Don’t miss Todd Snider’s song about Ellis,  ”America’s Favorite Pastime”  

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG2SPjcKM4M 

• [saint_al]

   ”…who in 1970 pitched a no-hatter for the Pittsburgh Pirates while tripping balls on LSD.”
  No hat? Oh, hwell, game is legendary and even Alex Grey later put Ellis’ face in one of his paintings. Yerp, you can sometimes play flawlessly while stoned. Not a consistent path, though.

• [Radiodiffusion Internasionaal]

  A “no hatter”? Was no one wearing a hat? 

• [Goodfinger]

  Remember in primary school when the teacher would call attendance using the last name first and then the first letter of the first name?

  “Ellis, D.”

• [terrycarroll]

  Musically, Dock Ellis belongs to Barbara Manning. With the SF Seals in 1993, she produced the first, best, and definitive sonic representation of Ellis’ great day. You can hear it here:

  http://www.myspace.com/music/player?sid=35979158&ac=now

• [Rickenbacker4001]

  I also pitched a no hitter, tripping on Lsd in 1988. It was Bases Loaded for the Nintendo. Things were simpler then…..my opponent was my little brother.

• [Teller]

  If you like baseball or headhunting, check out Dock’s May 1, 1974 game against the Reds. Will never be duplicated unless there’s a crazier pitcher.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dock_Ellis

  • [niktemadur]

    Jeez, I didn’t know that story, they just keep adding up!  Guy was not just a little nuts, but aggressive as well.

• [niktemadur]

  A baseball post on Boing Boing!

  A no-hitter is like Fight Club, tradition (superstition) states that teammates do NOT talk about it.  Then and only when a guy is tripping balls while pitching one, there’s always a bad-vibe guy like Dave Cash, playing mind games with Ellis during the game by repeating “You’ve got a no-no going!”

  Another contemporary psychedelic player that comes to mind is Red Sox pitcher Bill Lee, aka The Spaceman.

  Then there were anti-establishment guys like Vida Blue, who got fined $250 for an altercation with an umpire, and paid up with nickels and dimes.  “I tried to pay it all in pennies, but they’re hard to come by”.  Well yeah, $250 in pennies would be… 25,000 coins.

  Once the 80s kicked in, cocaine became the drug of choice, Tim Raines even admitted to always sliding headfirst so that the cocaine bag would not fall out of his pocket, in the playing field, damn.
  Then for the 90s onward it’s all about performance enhancers.

• [Mantissa128]

  Obligatory. For those who haven’t seen it: it’s a gas.

  • [noah django]

    ｍ（．＿．）ｍアリガト