
It could sink, move in on my hands, or sail away like Mariano Rivera’s cutter.”Īlso, Ellis was seeing multiple home plates that night. His fastball had such great late movement, always seemed to be in one place when I’d start my swing and then move in another direction. “I’ve always been asked who the toughest guy I ever faced was,” Campbell says, “and I always say Dock. Ellis was 25, making just his 57th career start, but the league already knew him as a force. “I don’t think any of us in the Padres dugout had any clue he was throwing a no-hitter because we had runners on every inning,” says Dave Campbell, the former ESPN announcer who led off for the Padres that night. (It also is part of one of the great trivia questions - name the five pitchers who played for both the Yankees and Mets who threw no-hitters for teams OTHER than the Yankees and Mets. Willie Stargell hit a couple of solo home runs.Īnd at 8:18 p.m., in front of fewer than 10,000 fans in that cavernous park, Ellis threw strike three past Ed Spiezio to complete one of the most unlikely no-hitters baseball has ever seen. He would throw around 150 pitches Bob Moose, who was supposed to chart for him, gave up after a while because he was all over the place. He then authored what is surely among the most bizarre chapters in baseball history. First pitch was scheduled for 6:05, first game of a twi-night doubleheader. Now he was really confused.įifty years ago, on June 12, 1970, Dock Ellis’ friend rushed him to LAX so he could make a 3:30 flight back to San Diego, floating him the $9.50 fee for the hourly shuttle. “It is Friday!” she said, opening the newspaper to the sports section and, sure enough, there was his name. “What are you doing?!” his host exclaimed. It was just before noon when he crushed the LSD tab, snorted it, waited for the show to kick in. He looked around the house to see if his host had anything … interesting it was 1970.
Lsd game nex full#
Anyway, he was eager to enjoy a full day off before getting back to the grind. He had permission from his manager, Danny Murtaugh, to drive to L.A., his hometown. He knew the Pirates had landed in San Diego early Wednesday night after playing a noon game at Candlestick. When he woke late that morning, he tried putting the details together from the night before, but in those days, for Dock Ellis, that wasn’t always easy. Patrick Mahomes-Josh Allen on track to be marquee for yearsĮven NFL Hall of Fame coaches struggled through learning curves Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen provide quarterback battle for the ages Playoff agony still better than no playoffs at all for your team Knicks can't afford to let too many more games like this get away
