How many colors in a no-hitter?

Oeditpus Rex · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 11:35 am

Interesting story, though a bit over-written:

[url=http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2005-06-16/news/feature_print.html]How to throw a no-hitter on acid, and other lessons from the career of baseball legend Dock Ellis
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wordygurdy · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 12:10 pm

Thanks, Oed! I look forward to digging into that.

I was a bit too young in the '70s to appreciate the antics of the Bronx Zoo Yanks, but I vaguely recall Ellis' being in the middle of some shenanigans.

SusanV · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 12:11 pm

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed that. I remember him only too well.

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:14 pm

Call me skeptical. I have never believed that Ellis threw a no-hitter while on LSD.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 1:59 pm

Would you believe he had a mushroom omelette for breakfast?

aparker54 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:07 pm

Phillip Blanchard wrote:

Call me skeptical. I have never believed that Ellis threw a no-hitter while on LSD.

How well did you use an Underwood while on Purple Haze acid? Did amphetamines help?

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:09 pm

Hey, if David Wells could throw a perfect game while drunk, surely Dock Ellis could have thrown a no-hitter while on acid.

Aside from agreeing with Oed's review that it's overwritten, here's one glaring copyediting error toward the end:

"One day last month, Ellis walked into the Victor Valley penitentiary, where, for the past two years, he's worked as a drug counselor. He said he had a surprise for his class. HBO Sports was doing a piece on him, and they'd dug up an old black-and-white videotape of that June 1970 game against the Pirates. "

Nope, he was pitching *for* the Pirates *against* the Padres.

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 4:11 pm

wordygurdy wrote:

Hey, if David Wells could throw a perfect game while drunk, surely Dock Ellis could have thrown a no-hitter while on acid.

I doubt that too, but I've heard that there are wide differences between being drunk and tripping.

aparker54 · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 8:11 pm

Here's an interesting take on the no-hitter from a lecture by botany prof George J. Wong (and High Times magazine).

Wong wrote:

One story that was published in High Times magazine, in August 1987, was an interview with Dock Ellis who was formerly a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, in the late 60's and 70's. On June 20, 1970, Ellis threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. However, that he did this after having taken three hits of LSD was not known until this interview. According to Ellis, he did not take LSD thinking that he would pitch a better, but did so only because he thought he was to have a day off at tome home that day. It was only after his girlfriend had returned with coffee, donuts and the morning paper that he found out that he was suppose to pitch that day. Although he showed up at the park and suited up for the game, Ellis knew that he was in bad shape and didn't have any illusions of even making it through the first inning. When he arrived in the locker room he was not even able to find his locker without help. When he finally made it to the pitcher's mound, Ellis was barely able to see the hand signals from his catcher, Jerry May. His first pitch never reached the catcher and bounced several feet in front of the plate. Then something strange happened that was due to the LSD. May signaled for a fast ball and when the ball left Ellis's hand, the ball was blazing like a comet and had a fiery tail that remained visible, to him, long after May had caught the ball. Make no mistake about it, the LSD made him feel terrible. He was wobbly and his stomach was churning with acid cramps, but every time he threw the fast ball, he could see the fiery path to the plate, and as long as he kept throwing the fast ball, he could use the path to steer the ball to the plate.

Ellis admitted that he did not pitch a no-hitter because he was throwing so well that day. Part of his success was probably also due to his lack of control. The Padre's batters felt very uneasy, in the batter's box because of Ellis' lack of control and also because of the glazed look in his eyes. In addition, he walked a large number of batters because of his lack of control.

Oeditpus Rex · **Posted:** Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:50 pm

Years ago, comedian Tom Kenny offered this explanation: Ellis was getting tips from his glove on what to throw.

wordygurdy · **Posted:** Sat Jun 25, 2005 7:12 pm

That's pretty funny, Oed.

And what of this excerpt from Wong's ponderous piece:

"Nevertheless, by the end of the seventh inning, when he looked up at the scoreboard and realized that he had not given up a hit. He smacked his catcher on the arm and said, "Hey, look, I've got a no-no going!" If you're a baseball fan, and didn't know the origin of term "no-no", this is it. It was said by Ellis while he was too stoned to say "no-hitter." "

Are we to believe that this is the origin of "no-no"? It's pretty interesting if true. I didn't know Ellis was the one who coined the term.

Earlier this week, Dan Shaughnessy had a fun column on Dennis Eckersley's coining of "walkoff" (as in "home run"). I had known that Eck had come up with that term, but I didn't know about Ellis' coming up with "no-no."

Oeditpus Rex · **Posted:** Sun Jun 26, 2005 10:35 am

wordygurdy wrote:

"If you're a baseball fan, and didn't know the origin of term 'no-no,' this is it. It was said by Ellis while he was too stoned to say 'no-hitter.'"

Are we to believe that this is the origin of "no-no"?

I wouldn't.

"No-hit, no-run game" goes back â€” well, a long time. It follows that somebody would've abbreviated it before 1970.

Besides, is it likely that Ellis would remember exactly what he said?

aparker54 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 27, 2005 7:11 am

Oeditpus Rex wrote:

"No-hit, no-run game" goes back â€” well, a long time. It follows that somebody would've abbreviated it before 1970.

Dock Ellis did not have a "no-hit, no-run game" â€” he had the bases loaded at at least one point.

There seems to be some dispute over what a "no-no" is: just a plain no-hitter or a hard-core shutout. See this MLB Baseball forum.

Docsdoctor · **Posted:** Mon Jun 27, 2005 8:38 am

Wait - a shutout means no runs scored, yes? What is a hard-core shutout - no one reaches base? Would that not be a hard-core no-hitter?

JeffW · **Posted:** Mon Jun 27, 2005 9:24 am

aparker54 wrote:

Dock Ellis did not have a "no-hit, no-run game" â€” he had the bases loaded at at least one point.

Yes, he did -- no runs scored, no hits were allowed = no-hit shutout. Ellis did walk eight and hit one batter, but that just kept it from being a perfect game.

Shutout = no runs allowed.
No hitter/no-no = no hits allowed.
Perfect game = no runners allowed on base.

jjmoney62 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 27, 2005 11:20 am

Now that we all know the basic rules of baseball, thanks to all for playing.

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