Dock Ellis, former pitcher who threw a no-hitter while on LSD, dead at 63

There are thousands of great sporting achievements in the history of sports. Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game coming to mind. Tom Brady throwing 50 TD passes in a season is another. But none of them is quite as unique as what Dock Ellis did in 1970:

No-hitting the San Diego Padres on June 12, 1970 despite being, as he would claim in 1984, under the influence of LSD throughout the course of the game.^[1] Ellis had been visiting friends in Los Angeles under the impression he had the day off and was still high when his girlfriend told him he had to pitch a game against the Padres that night. Ellis boarded a shuttle flight to the ballpark and threw a no-hitter despite not being able to feel the ball or clearly see the batter or catcher. Ellis claims catcher Jerry May wore reflective tape on his fingers which helped Ellis to see his target. Ellis walked eight, struck out six, and was aided by excellent fielding plays by second baseman Bill Mazeroski and centerfielder Matty Alou.^[2] During the game, Ellis is reported to have commented to his teammates on the bench between innings that he was pitching a no-hitter, despite the superstition that discourages mentioning a no-hitter while it is in progress. Because the no-hitter was the first game of a double header, Ellis was forced to keep track of the pitch count for the night game.^[3]

According to Ellis:

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.^[4]

Truly amazing. I can barely imagine throwing a baseball while heavily hallucinating let alone throwing a no-hitter in the major leagues.

Anyway, I recount this incident because Dock Ellis died yesterday at the age of 63. While many baseball players will be forgotten, Ellis will always live on for his day on the mound tripping balls.