You know Henry James
said to be one of those
on whom nothing is lost.
Dock was one on whom
nothing was lost.
(Crowd cheering and music)
(Crowd cheering and music)
Commentator: Well, here
we are in the 7th inning.
Dock Ellis working
on a no-hitter.
Dock Ellis has put
nine men on the bases.
Eight walks and one hit batsman,
but three outs separate him
and a no-hitter.
Somewhere along the line, I'm
sure this is all being recorded,
so that we can have it for
dock if he throws the epic.
Looking out at the scoreboard,
he can see zero, zero, zero
where it says San Diego.
Dock Ellis: During the time when
i was pitching the no-hitter
in San Diego, I really
didn't know...
I didn't see the hitters.
All I could tell was if they
was on the right side
or the left side.
As far as seeing the target, the
catcher put tape on his fingers
so I could see the signals.
But as far as seeing
the batters themselves,
i didn't really see
who they were.
I didn't really see
who they were.
( Star spangled banner playing)
The opposing team and my
teammates, they knew I was high,
but they didn't know
what I was high on.
They didn't really see it,
but I had the acid in me,
and I didn't know what I
looked like with that acid.
I had lost all concept of time.
[Distorted announcer commentary]
[Distorted announcer commentary]
It was easier to pitch with
the LSD because I was
so used to medicating myself.
That's the way I was dealing
with the fear of failure.
You know, if dock's pitching,
you know he's high.
How high is he?
( Star spangled banner playing)
I pitched every game
in the major leagues
i pitched every game
in the major leagues
under the influence
of drugs.
( Star spangled banner playing)
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
Dock Ellis pitched a
no-hitter on LSD.
Those who have taken LSD,
tell the others how hard
that might be.
You heard stories about him
that was wild stories,
but they really didn't
get the intellect of dock.
Oh, that's the dude used
to pitch for the pirates,
the acid guy.
Nah, it's cool.
You know.
I'm remembered.
You know, everybody
wants to be remembered.
Basically, one hell
of a pitcher.
Commentator: The pirates,
in a world series
for the first time in 11 years,
start dock Ellis.
For the first time in 11 years,
start dock Ellis.
And there was no
cookie cutter persona to dock.
You never knew whether
he was serious,
whether he was kidding,
but he was always a guy
that had something to say.
He was probably one of the
most misunderstood people
in the game.
He done a lot of
damn good things
while he was doing
the bad things,
but no one... oh, no, no.
They don't pick that out.
They just pick the bad.
He understood playing,
but he understood,
I think, that he had
a better calling.
I think, that he had
a better calling.
I'm not one of those guys
that won 300 games
and a cy young award, but I was
a guy that was personable,
I was controversial.
My entire career I was
an angry black man.
I don't know.
I was there playing a dream of a
lot of people, but I was angry.
Dock, a militant,
black athlete.
He was a athlete,
and he was black.
He talked about race
but in a way that was
really accessible
and sort of logical.
He seemed to bend the rules
or chafe against authority
he seemed to bend the rules
or chafe against authority
a little bit.
There hadn't been a hell of
a lot of progress made
in terms of the comfort level
of players of color
since Jackie Robinson.
Dock was one of the most
impactful guys in regard
to those issues that has
ever come down the pike.
A lot people did
not understand him,
but if some people say that he
didn't know what he was doing,
that's wrong.
He knew what he was doing.
He always knew
what he was doing.
Dock was never the one
to appease the society.
Dock was never the one
to appease the society.
Dock's gonna tell it the way
it is, and you deal with it.
(Music)
(Music)
Dock Ellis.
Are you familiar with him?
Well, the baseball commissioner,
he's been ordered by the
commissioner not to wear hair
curlers during team practice.
Commissioner not to wear hair
curlers during team practice.
My hand on that.
The man had hair curlers
and was out.
He doesn't like that.
He's got... he's a
great pitcher.
He's got three great pitches.
A fastball, a slider,
and a spitcurl.
Have you seen that?
(Laughter)
Now you got to set the story
up with the fact that
we're playing all day games,
so everybody's hung over.
You know, we're out trying to
stay away from the manager,
so we're all out there
in the bullpen benches
and here comes dock
out of the dugout
with a gaggle of writers
and photographers.
With a gaggle of writers
and photographers.
Dock, any other town.
We're hurting.
We don't want to run, but we're
gonna run just to stay
out of this nonsense, just to
get away from this maniac
who's decided to put curlers
in his hair at wrigley field
when everybody has a hangover.
Not fair, dock.
Not good.
Not good on that day.
(Music)
Dock: Putting curlers
in my hair.
Ah... you know, that was
hip and slick.
I was throwing spitballs.
I was throwing spitballs.
I had a perm, so all I had to do
was go to the back of my neck,
and I would have had
a handful of water.
Sweat.
I remember one time,
sweat coming off the ball,
and the umpire at third base
called time and said,
"he's throwing a spitball."
The home plate umpire told
the third base umpire
to get back to third base.
"You don't know what
you're talking about.
He throws a natural sinker."
He came out one day with
curlers in his hair,
and it, you know,
everybody was shocked.
And it, you know,
everybody was shocked.
I was sitting in the dugout with
Danny murtaugh, the manager,
and he says to me,
"hey, is this your buddy there?"
And I looked at him and
thought, "oh, my God.
Is this dock?"
And I looked again and it was
dock there, and there were
red and blue and yellow curlers
on his head.
Danny murtaugh came to me,
and he said, "Bob," he said,
"go out there in the bullpen
and tell dock
to take the curlers
out of his hair."
So I walked out, and dock knew
why I was coming out there.
He said, "alright.
What do you need?"
I said, "well..."
I said, "well..."
"'Bout my hair, isn't it?"
And I said, "yeah."
It was no big thing to me.
You know, I saw curlers
all the time.
And maybe it was
a cultural thing.
You know, in the black
community, you saw, you know,
sometimes men with
curlers in their hair.
So it wasn't nothing new to me.
(Music)
He always had a purpose
of doing something.
He always had a purpose
of doing something.
A lot of people thought
dock was crazy.
Dock wasn't crazy.
Dock knew a lot more than other
people, and he proved points
by making them on the
baseball field.
He took stands.
He felt that the brothers should
be able to wear their hair
any way they damn well please.
Dock: In wearing the
curlers on the field,
i was defying the club because
they said I couldn't wear
the curlers because it wasn't
part of the uniform code.
That's not acceptable.
That's not the image that
major league baseball
that's not the image that
major league baseball
wants to portray.
Dock: I was anti-management
because I didn't
believe in anyone trying to tell
me how to dress, who to date.
I remember one time I had my
hair braided and they wanted
to know what is that about.
Don't ask me about my
hair being braided.
Get out of my face.
When he decided to wear curlers,
they suspended him for 10 days,
but we resisted the suspension,
and it went away.
Dock: You know, it's not that
you got to watch how I dress.
Dock: You know, it's not that
you got to watch how I dress.
You got to watch how I play.
Baseball in that decade really
collided with pop culture
in a way that it never
had previously.
We saw players expressing
themselves in ways that,
you know, the media and baseball
fans weren't really
used to seeing.
He had a certain style on
the field and off the field.
Dock: Superfly.
(Groovy music)
(Groovy music)
Dock was a... he was
a dresser, man.
I mean, the big Cadillac.
He was flashy.
(Groovy music)
We were a team that was
dressed to kill.
We loved clothes.
And dock would wear
the loud colors.
Dock: I wasn't like
Dennis rodman.
I didn't wear any dresses or
nothing, but I wore the clogs,
the bell-bottoms, the bags,
the t-shirts.
The bell-bottoms, the bags,
the t-shirts.
Dock's the first ballplayer
that I ever remember
who wore a earring.
Steve blass: Dock was
up-to-date.
He was up-to-date.
He was a chapter ahead.
Whatever was going on
in culture or our world,
he was at least a chapter ahead.
He called himself the
'muhammad Ali of baseball'.
I asked him... I said,
"why you act so crazy?"
I asked him... I said,
"why you act so crazy?"
He says, "'cause that'll
make me money."
He learned it from...
He said he...
Because him and muhammad Ali
became friends.
And he said he'd always talk.
And the more he talked and he
bragged about himself,
the more people came to see him,
and the more money he made.
Right, I would agree.
He was always called
'peanut.'
okay? Because of his head.
But they changed it
because he was..
He nutted up on you in a minute.
And they just started
calling him 'the nut.'
because, in other words,
he was crazy.
Because, in other words,
he was crazy.
He was a controlled crazy.
He knew how to be crazy.
Marsha: Right, yeah.
Paula: He knew when to be crazy.
Yeah.
Selective crazy.
And when not to be crazy.
He would have a catchphrase
like 'the nut.
Nuttier than a walnut.'
'the crazy nut.'
'nutty nut.'
he intentionally would stir
your shit up, and get,
get in your head to where you'd
just get so pissed off
at him, you'd just want to
knock the hell out of him.
Ray Jones: No, he was
good at that.
Floyd Hoffman: He was good.
He always started shit.
Okay?
Okay?
If you went with dock somewhere,
you was gonna get put out
or your was gonna be
asked to leave.
And also, you know, he uh...He
always wanted to be a gangster.
If wouldn't have
played baseball,
he'd a been a gangster.
I really do believe.
Peter golenbock: When you
were very young...
Five, six, seven,
eight years old...
Do you have any strong memories
of your playing baseball?
Do you have any strong memories
of your playing baseball?
Dock: I remember
playing center field
and throwing the ball
over the backstop,
so they put me on the mound.
As we grew older and he started
playing baseball,
and I wouldn't play baseball
with him after a while because
he would throw the ball so hard.
It would be so hard you could
hear this ball cutting the air.
And I'm thinking that he's
trying to hurt me because he's
throwing the ball so hard.
So I just quit playing with him.
So I just quit playing with him.
I said, "I'm not get
hurt out here like this."
You know.
But we didn't know anything
about him having an arm
that he could pitch like this,
but it showed that he just had
a natural talent to
throw that ball.
What was the first realization
that you said to yourself,
"hey, I got a shot here to
play professional ball?"
I knew it from the time I
could throw a ball
to my father or my cousin.
I knew then.
I always knew, and I always had
the dream, and I always ask
young kids who are playing,
"have you had the dream?"
And they know what
I'm talking about.
The dream is you
see the banners.
You don't know where you are,
but you're in the big leagues.
You don't know where you are,
but you're in the big leagues.
Dock Ellis was one of those
guys that, you know,
at an early age was a
pitcher and not a thrower.
He had that drop.
I mean, he'd throw the ball
and it wasn't a curveball
that curves like this
and like that.
It would go, and it would
drop straight down.
Dock had one of them dippers.
The curveball.
It'd just come up there
and automatically,
it dropped to the damn dirt.
It dropped to the damn dirt.
Okay, they call it
a slider today.
What he had.
But his was a lot further
than a slider.
Yeah, yeah.
But his would just
drop off the table.
Boy 1: What is this, man?
This is warm.
What did you guys keep it?
In the sun?
Boy 2: So me and Mike
was standing in front
of the liquor store, right?
And this big, old, fat dude
comes along, and I go,
"hey, mister.
Will you please go in there
and buy my mother some beer?"
Dock, when he got into
trouble, you know,
dock, when he got into
trouble, you know,
he always brought me into it.
And so big dock would come
over and talk to my dad
and then so now we're
both in trouble.
Big dock, he wasn't mean.
He was strict.
Some of the kids would come by
and they'd see big dock outside.
Well, they'd rather
go the other way.
He worked hard,
and my father
only had a third grade
education.
He moved to California.
He got a job working
at the post office.
And he was a longshoreman.
He worked... did the
longshoreman at night,
worked at the post office.
Then he started going
to school to learn
then he started going
to school to learn
the shoe repair business.
Floyd Hoffman: Big dock was
not a real outgoing person,
and he was all about going to
the shop, working all day,
coming home and eating,
making sure the kids was done,
and that was his routine
every day.
Dock, he was always at the shop
with dad, and he had the kids
that he played with in Compton,
where the shop was,
which I didn't know.
But he knew all of them, all the
little so-called gang members
but he knew all of them, all the
little so-called gang members
and all of that.
He'd say,
"son, they alright."
I said, "okay.
You gonna get in
some trouble there."
Sure enough, he got us
in trouble.
He liked the lifestyle.
But, you know, his daddy was
his... you know, his backbone.
See, big dock took care
of everybody, you know.
He took care of that family,
you know.
He helped kept them together.
You know, junior had to
be home at ten o'clock.
You know, junior had to
be home at ten o'clock.
Okay?
And at ten o'clock,
junior was home.
My Uncle would be in the
audience, and when dock
would strike somebody out,
he'd jump up,
and he'd just start hollering,
and he jumps up.
Then he has to take...
He has asthma,
so he has to take
these inhalers.
And as dock would do something
good on the field,
he'd take and start
inhaling himself.
(Breathes heavily) Because,
you know, he's wheezing.
And dock would tell me, "see,
he shouldn't even be here
and dock would tell me, "see,
he shouldn't even be here
at this baseball game."
Marsha Hoffman: That sounded
just like him!
"He's gonna die sitting out here
at this baseball game
cheering for me."
Everybody in our neighborhood...
Most of all the best players,
you always wanted to play
on Chet brewer's team.
Chet was an ex-negro league
player, but he had an
affiliation with Pittsburgh.
And so all of us tried to play
on his team because he had the
best players, and a lot of
scouts would come watch
best players, and a lot of
scouts would come watch
his team play.
If you talk to people
about Chet brewer,
he's in the same breath
as satchel Paige.
Chet could throw sinkers.
He could throw curveballs.
He could throw fastballs.
He could spot the ball.
And some of the pitches
that he had,
dock picked up.
That's where dock
got his stuff from.
At that time, dock was
a youngster, but he was
always a little bit above
and more knowledgeable
than most of the other guys
around the neighborhood.
He asked a lot of questions.
He asked a lot of questions.
"Well, why you do this?"
"Well, how you make
that ball do this?"
When he was on the ball field,
he was in command.
He was our number one starter.
Dock: I used to always
tell my first wife,
"I'm gonna be in
the big leagues.
I ain't gonna be home."
(Music)
Dock didn't really get hooked up
with girls until he met Paula.
I was George Washington's
first black homecoming queen.
Dock was my escort, because
we were going together
at that time.
She was a swimmer.
She was an athlete.
She was in drum and bugle.
She was in every club
that there was on campus.
The thing about Paula that was
so impressive is that their
entire family were always these
people who stood up for the
right thing and who had
a say-so, who had a
voice of activism.
My father stressed and my
parents stressed
my father stressed and my
parents stressed
good moral behavior,
good conduct.
Profanity was never used
or allowed in our house.
My parents didn't
drink or smoke.
Dock would come to pick
Paula up at school,
and we would be in awe that
this guy with this loud car
that would rev would come
and pick up our star.
And she was our star.
She was a person that we all
looked up to and held great
promise of what was
her future going to be.
I don't know what it was that
attracted me to him at first.
I don't really know.
I don't really know.
But he could be funny.
He could be funny.
Everyone in the neighborhood
spoke very well of him.
And I guess to a certain extent,
he had a certain bad boy image
that for my family and my
upbringing was unique,
was novel.
So I guess when you
put it all together,
it turned into love.
Ray Jones: Now, you're married.
Okay?
Okay?
I say, "dock, you got to do
something better than this."
Because he was up there with
the... that wrong influence.
He said, "son, I'm going
to do something."
I said, "well, you got to
just do it for yourself."
And then when his daddy died,
you really got to do
something now.
Now what you gonna do now?
And then that's when he decided
that he would go ahead
and concentrate on one thing and
concentrate on that baseball.
And concentrate on one thing and
concentrate on that baseball.
And that's what he put...
He went full steam ahead.
Peter golenbock: Where'd they
send you that first year?
Dock: Batavia, New York.
Peter: What was that like?
Dock Ellis: It wasn't that bad.
I got into drinking
then, though.
Peter: Oh, so where did they
send you the next year?
Dock: Kinston,
north Carolina.
Peter: M-hmm.
Dock: You know the first
night in town I cussed
the police out.
They said, "boy, where
you from?"
I said, "California."
And they said, "oh, lord.
You one of them ball players?"
You one of them ball players?"
I said, "you're damn right."
A lot of people didn't
realize things that we
had to go through in
the minor leagues.
You know, when I first came
into baseball in '66,
I went to Salem, Virginia,
and we were separated,
the black players from
the white players.
I mean, we couldn't
stay in the same hotel.
My first, first full year
in professional baseball,
I spent in Raleigh,
north Carolina,
the capital of the ku klux klan.
And we stayed at a hotel,
eight of us altogether.
Blacks and Latin.
And somebody had went by my room
and put three 'k's' on my door.
And somebody had went by my room
and put three 'k's' on my door.
Now, I'm scared to death to even
go in this room and for about
four or five nights, I never
even slept in that room.
I went to the other room
with the other players.
There was a lot of things that
when you look at a baseball game
you didn't see.
And it was maybe more blatant
in the carolinas and Columbus.
And my first reaction
and dock's first reaction was
now you want to fight somebody.
And it's just, you know,
it's not gonna work here.
We talking '60's and say this
and say that.
We talking '60's and say this
and say that.
You can't say all that,
'cause you have a career.
Because you... the next thing
they gonna do is blackball you.
I could always talk to dock.
There's probably two players
I know of, maybe three,
that could have talked to dock
and calmed him down,
and that would have been
clemente, stargell, and myself.
And that was because of the
respect that he had for us.
Paula Johnson: His first
roommate was Roberto clemente,
and Roberto clemente was
way ahead of his time.
And Roberto clemente was
way ahead of his time.
Just a different approach.
But he was just as vocal,
just as innovative as dock.
Not as flamboyant.
Not as outrageous.
Roberto clemente:
I am puerto rican.
I am black.
So anything that I do first,
it will be reflected on me
because I am black.
And second, it will be reflected
on me because I am puerto rican.
Dock: What happened was uh...
Johnny pesky was the
manager at Columbus, and he had
asked me to be his dog for
30 days, and I would get
to the big leagues.
30 days, and I would get
to the big leagues.
So I said, "what do you mean?"
He said, "be ready to
pitch every fucking day."
And so I did, and I
was in the big leagues.
(Music)
(Music)
When you get to the
major leagues,
it's easier coming
up the ladder,
but it's hell to stay there.
(Music and cheers)
(Music and cheers)
(Music and cheers)
Jackie robertson told me,
and satchel Paige said the
same thing, said "listen,
this is what's going
"to happen to you.
"They're going to call
you names that you've
"never been called before.
"You're going to have to do
things that you don't think
"you're going to have to do
things that you don't think
"is the right thing to do,
but there's one thing
"that you've got to
always remember.
"You can't feel
sorry for yourself.
"When you walk across those
white lines and they say,
'play baseball!'"
they said, "you better win."
Boy 3: Winning is
where it's at, man.
Winning is everything.
You know.
The major leagues.
The world series.
That's where I'm headed.
To the big time.
Dock: You get to the major
leagues, and you say,
"I got to stay here.
"What do I need?
Oh, yeah, I need some of
this shit right here."
It was dexamyl, better known
in baseball as 'greenies.'
i didn't know that the
stimulants would
enhance your performance.
It gives the impression that you
are throwing hard sometimes,
pinpoint control,
pinpoint control,
breaking off curveballs that
you've never seen before.
You're more in tune to
what you're doing,
and you're zeroed in.
You're like what they call
'in the zone' now,
and sometimes you feel before
the game, if you're warming up,
say, "ah, man, I don't
have shit on the ball.
I don't know what's going to
happen," and go out there
and throw a hell of a game.
I would say over 90% of major
leagues was using dexamyl
i would say over 90% of major
leagues was using dexamyl
when I was playing.
Yeah, they was all high.
Naw, it was about 95%.
Maybe 96%.
I mean, I took greenies.
Everybody did.
All it was was like drinking
15 cups of coffee and going...
Maybe 20 cups of coffee...
And going out there
and pitching a ballgame.
If you didn't take it, you
were gonna get released
and sent home.
I wasn't going back to my 'hood.
So I took it.
So I took it.
Yeah.
I mean, everybody did.
I used to hear that trainers
would distribute them
in the '60's, but then at
some point they were outlawed
and so it went underground,
but players still used it.
I didn't get into that,
but I knew other guys did.
But it was tough.
It's demanding.
You're playing 162 games in
that 180 day time period,
and it's nine innings.
It's three hours of
concentration at extremely
it's three hours of
concentration at extremely
high pitch.
All it takes is just a little
bit of a lack of concentration
in a major league game to
make the big difference.
Here's my take on it.
I don't believe that babe Ruth
and Lou gehrig
drank all night long, rode on
those trains all night long,
got up, and played a 1:00 game
on Sunday or every day
in the sun without some help.
And I believe everybody's had
help throughout this game.
Nobody knows who's
going to get hooked.
Nobody knows who's
going to get hooked.
Sometimes a player could be
using drugs or alcohol
for a long time before his
game starts slipping.
Boy 4: I heard one of the guys
on the high school varsity
got caught drinking.
Or maybe it was with uppers,
or something like that.
But my brother said all's
the coach did was tell him
not to do it no more.
Do you think they'd kick
him off if he wasn't so hot?
When I took the job in 1967,
the first meeting I had
with the players, I said,
"I don't want them in my
trainer's room.
"I don't want anybody
to use them.
"I don't want anybody
to use them.
If you use them, don't do it
in front of me."
I was thoroughly against
the amphetamines,
especially dexamyl.
Dock: You know, it was a
thing where I started off
with one greenie and then
i did well.
I'd take one again.
I didn't do well, I took two.
I used to take it, take them,
shake them, throw them.
If they fall down,
i wouldn't take them.
If they stood up, I did.
Then if it wasn't enough
standing, I'd take the ones
that was laying down.
If they took them,
I never saw it.
If they took them,
I never saw it.
I was thoroughly against that
because I used to read the
literature, and I used to try
to get the players to read the
literature on how later on in
life, you'll pay for that
with heart problems
and lung problems.
Dock: I would try to
out-milligram any opponent.
Before a game, I would take
a maximum of 15, 17 pills.
Not to say that I didn't have
enough stuff to pitch
in the major leagues.
It's just that I was trying
to get the little edge.
Willie mays can't hit that.
Hank can't hit that.
They all tell you that.
We can't hit that.
I think that a lot of people
thought that dock
went out there on
his talent alone.
He thought about his craft,
he thought about what he
had to do as a pitcher,
and the mental part of the game
was big time with him.
Here's something I wrote about
him in a poem called
"baseball."
Dock said that pitcher and poet
were up to the same tricks.
Dock said that pitcher and poet
were up to the same tricks.
All I'm trying to do,
he said, is fool 'em.
When you expect Robin's egg
blue, I suppose you've got
rubberized cement instead.
Always remember, curt, that
Sandy koufax spoke
of pitching baseball as the
'art of intimidation.'
dock: My thing was basically
intimidation.
It's the battle between the
pitcher and the hitter.
It's the battle between the
pitcher and the hitter.
Good hitters are going to hit
you, there's no doubt about it.
But you've got to
pop them sometimes.
Some of that plate is yours.
Some is theirs.
Not too much of it is theirs
because they've got the bat.
You know, I didn't have
overpowering stuff.
My ball was heavy.
It moved.
But just to look at me chewing
the gum, I know put fear in some
of them's hearts because they
didn't know what this fool
might do out there.
And you know, the rumors
about me and what I was doing.
They'd say, "well, how's he
feeling today?
They'd say, "well, how's he
feeling today?
"He looks like he's
out to lunch.
"Why is he stepping
off the mound?
"What is he doing out there?
"What is he looking for?
What's wrong with him?"
So a lot of that played a very
important part
in helping me deal with the
opponents, you know.
Commentator: Strike three!
From a breaking pitch.
It was a treat to be on a team
that had a dock Ellis on it.
It was a treat to be on a team
that had a dock Ellis on it.
There was a lot of substance
to dock that people...
A lot of people weren't aware
of, and he was a hoot.
Al Oliver: I can honestly say
that we could not have asked
for a better teammate because
every clubhouse has to be loose,
and most of our games were won
and lost in the clubhouse.
When you're loose
in the clubhouse,
then the game is
a piece of cake.
Anybody who ever left the
pirates and went
to another team,
you were fairly bored.
Well, dock was just crazy,
and he would do anything.
Well, dock was just crazy,
and he would do anything.
You never knew what
he was going to do.
You never knew what
he was going to say.
Every situation was fraught
for humor or high jinks
when dock was around.
He took almost nothing
seriously,
somewhat including
his own career.
I give Pittsburgh pirates
credit for drafting people
that was fucking crazy.
Bruce kison: I mean,
everybody was creative.
Clemente had his own,
you know, stargell,
Dave Parker came through,
and the Manny sanguillns.
I mean, there was always
something going on
in that clubhouse.
In that clubhouse.
Everybody was a victim.
Everybody was a target.
From Roberto to Willie,
it didn't matter.
Larry demery: We were just
a close-knit ballclub.
Off days, if we were in another
city, we'd get together.
Not just the black ball players
that was on the team
but the white ball players, and
we'd go to... more than likely,
we'd go to Willie stargell's
suite, and we'd just hang out
and have food, drink, and
you know, just you know,
we were just that close knit.
The one thing that I never
will forget about dock
is when muhammad Ali walked
into the clubhouse.
Dave cash: And that's the
first time I've seen dock
just kind of shut up.
Al Oliver: And dock was
quick on his feet
and quick with his hands,
and him and Ali were sparring.
Dock could act like him,
you know, throw the punches.
He had the Ali shuffle, and
he had the flurry and the jabs.
Dave cash: He jumps up in front
of Ali and starts jabbing,
and I thought, "oh, man!
What are you..
Are you crazy?"
And dock said,
"no, I can take him.
I can take him."
It was one of the greatest
sights I've ever seen,
it was one of the greatest
sights I've ever seen,
and the players were in awe.
They didn't realize how
dock could move his feet
so fast like Ali.
They were circling and dock's
doing the Ali shuffle
around and throwing punches,
and Ali gave him just
a quick little jab in the
middle of dock's chest,
and it folded his chest.
And it was... he didn't
even throw a punch.
It was just...
A tap?
Just a tap.
Gene clines: He threw maybe
three or four punches that
scared the bejesus out of dock.
Scared the bejesus out of dock.
And it scared everybody,
and dock just kind of like
ran away and said, "oh, my God!"
I said, "come on, big mouth.
Here he is."
Commentator: Sellout crowd
tonight.
Been sold out for months here.
54,000 in tiger stadium.
Floyd Hoffman: At all-star
break, I think he was
13-3, 13-4.
Him and vida blue.
Him and vida blue.
And I don't know who was
interviewing him,
but he made the statement that
there 'ain't no way in hell
they're gonna start two black
pitchers in an all-star game.'
and after that statement
was made,
of course the newspapers
blew it up.
Dan Epstein: I feel like dock
was very media savvy.
You know, he wanted
to start that game.
He knew vida blue was going
to be going for
the American league, and he was
pretty sure that sparky Anderson
the American league, and he was
pretty sure that sparky Anderson
was going to go with tom seaver
or Steve Carlton.
So he said to, you know,
whatever reporters were nearby,
"there's no way they're going to
put a brother against a brother
in the all-star game."
(Music)
See, dock was a
psychologist, too.
Dock would set people up, and
the media would fall for it.
He realized the racial tensions
that were going on
in the country, and baseball
gave him a platform
to speak his mind.
Commentator: Well, all the
talk's been about vida blue,
but here's a fellow, dock Ellis,
who has quite a record himself.
He leads his league
in victories with 14.
He has the lowest earned run
average, and he has a 12-game
winning streak.
(Music)
Dan Epstein: That's an
incredibly savvy move
and an incredibly ballsy move
for a player in 1971,
and an incredibly ballsy move
for a player in 1971,
especially a black player,
to just kind of come out
and use that sort of reverse
psychology to get what he wants.
Dock: It's a
privilege being here.
It's a privilege also being
chosen as a starting pitcher.
Vida blue: I don't know what it
did for baseball,
but I know what it did for the
afro-American community.
You know, it gave my people
a chance to stand up
and be proud about an
accomplishment of having
two African American players
starting in the all-star game.
Commentator: He was booed today
when his name was announced
as the starting pitcher...
Been making the
newspapers and radio.
You always prayed and hoped
that no one would challenge
dock racially because dock
would stand up
and put you in your place.
Dock: You know, the threats
and letters,
they never really bothered me.
They wanted to go down,
we could go down.
They threatened me.
Threatened to shoot me.
If you stick your head
over the dugout,
if you stick your head
over the dugout,
we're going to shoot you,
and I had my head
over the dugout the whole game.
Really, it was pretty rough.
I was warned by Jackie Robinson
about things that was
going to be afforded me that
I was not going to get.
That I would look over my
shoulder and my brothers
wouldn't be there because of the
way I... the things I stood for.
I need my glasses.
You might ...
Interviewer: Oh, the
Jackie Robinson letter?
Dock: Here it is.
Dock: Here it is.
Interviewer: Actually,
could you read that?
Dock: I read your comments
in our paper the last few days
and wanted you to know
how much I appreciate
your courage and honesty.
In my opinion, progress for
today's players will only come
from this kind of dedication.
I am sure also you know some
of the possible consequences.
The news media, while knowing
full well you are
right and honest, will use every
means to get back at you.
There will be times when
you will ask yourself,
there will be times when
you will ask yourself,
"is it worth it all?"
I can only say, "dock, it is."
And even though you will want
to yield, in the long run,
your own feeling about yourself
will be most important.
Try not to be left alone.
(Choked up) Try to get more
players to understand
your views, and you will
find great support.
(Sobbing) You have made a
real contribution.
I again appreciate what you
are doing - continued success.
I again appreciate what you
are doing - continued success.
Jackie Robinson
(sobbing) Aw, man.
I never read that like that.
Aw, shit.
There was a lot of older black
players at that time
that never said anything.
I mean, great players.
They never said anything
because they didn't want
the heat on them.
What dock did, he would come
out and he would say it.
What dock did, he would come
out and he would say it.
And it was the truth.
In our generation, yeah, we
put up with a whole lot.
When dock came in, it was a
little bit different story.
In our day, we didn't push it,
but it needed to be pushed
at that time because maybe
things wasn't moving
as fast as it should have
been moving.
Male #1: We gonna walk on this
racist power structure,
male #1: We gonna walk on this
racist power structure,
and we gonna say to the
whole damn government,
"stick 'em up, motherfuckers!
"This is holdup!
We come for what's ours!"
Richard Nixon: Are these
primarily blacks
that you're dealing with?
Male #2: Oh, yes, the whole
thing was led by the blacks.
(Blast goes off)
Male #3: We are going to
control our communities
by any means necessary.
Male #4: A black united
front is what we're about!
Richard Nixon: We just will not
tolerate this kind of anarchy.
(Protestors singing)
the revolution has come.
off the pigs.
Time to pick up the guns.
Time to pick up the guns.
Off the pigs.
The revolution has come....
Dave cash: When we first
went out on the field,
I don't think anybody
realized it.
At that time, I didn't
really figure out
what was going on until
the national anthem.
You know, when the game
starts like that,
you're concentrating...
At least, I was...
On who the first hitter is,
what is he going to do.
One of the clubhouse batboy
kids made a statement
one of the clubhouse batboy
kids made a statement
and said, "the homestead grays
are playing tonight."
And I'm saying, you know,
"what are you talking about,
the homestead grays, you know?"
And it was, you know,
negro league team.
Al Oliver: We usually had five
starting anyway,
and if dock pitched,
it was six.
You know, the pirate
organization was loaded
with black and Latin players.
I'm standing out
in center field,
and I'm thinking about
what this kid had said.
And I looked to my left,
and I looked at stargell,
and I looked to my right
at clemente.
There's Jackie, there's renny,
there's Al, there's clemente,
there's Jackie, there's renny,
there's Al, there's clemente,
there's clines, stargell,
sanguilln,
and dock's on the mound.
I looked around, and I said,
"Al, man, there's nine
brothers out there."
And he looked at me, and
he was astonished, too.
He didn't even realize
what was going on.
And then he said, "yeah."
It was a night that I didn't
realize that we had
nine minorities
starting until about
the third or fourth inning.
I turned to Dave cash, and I
said, "Dave, you know what?
We got all brothers
out there, man."
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
And I looked, I said,
"oh, my God!"
Manny sanguilln: When I looked,
I said, "oh, man.
We were playing nine players."
And people don't want to
recognize because
they say we're Latino.
We're black, too.
Steve blass: I was on the bench,
and I don't remember having
any particular reaction
on the bench.
Through nine innings,
we weren't all,
"my God, look at it.
It's just brothers."
It was just.
They were our teammates.
They were our teammates.
It was buccos, yeah.
We were fielding a ballclub.
I have no idea if murtaugh
recognized this fact or not.
Manny sanguilln:
Danny murtaugh, he said,
"my manager and me, we see
nine ballplayers
that are going to win the game."
Gene clines: For us at the time,
it wasn't any big deal.
I didn't even realize that
that's the first time
it had ever happened.
There was nothing really
said about it because
we were down seven runs in the
first inning of that game,
so it wasn't time to reminisce
about an all black team.
We got to try and get it
together because we're
we got to try and get it
together because we're
getting our tails kicked.
And it just so happened,
we did get it together,
and I think we ended up
winning the game 9-7.
Probably one of the...
One of the best games
we played all season.
(Music)
And to field an all
minority team was something
that I never will forget.
It's history now.
There's a book written about it.
The team that changed baseball.
We're proud of that.
Dan Epstein: It was reflective
of a time in American culture
where black arts, black music,
black film,
where black arts, black music,
black film,
all these things were kind of
pushing their way
into the mainstream.
Black fashion was starting to
influence what was happening
in white fashion.
So in some ways it seems like
1971 was the perfect time for,
you know, for the first all
black and brown lineup.
But at the same time, it's also
like what took you guys so long.
Commentator: And now it's
the world series.
(Music)
(Music)
Commentator: The pirates, in a
world series for the first time
in 11 years, start dock Ellis.
(Music and crowd cheering)
(Music and crowd cheering)
Commentator: When boog Powell
follows the homer with a walk,
Ellis takes a walk himself.
Dock: I started having
trouble with my arm in
dock: I started having
trouble with my arm in
San Francisco, the first game
i pitched in the playoffs,
and I knew then that
my arm was gone.
But I will definitely
be back next year.
(Music and crowd cheering)
Commentator: And the
final score,
Pittsburgh 5;
Baltimore 1
(music and crowd cheering)
Commentator: The world
series is all tied up.
(Music and crowd cheering)
(Music and crowd cheering)
Commentator: Clemente,
the unsinkable pirate.
(Music and crowd cheering)
Commentator: The last act.
Commentator: And the game,
the series, it's all over.
Pittsburgh!
Boy 5: You can't tell me
you wouldn't like
to win the world series.
Boy 6: Yeah, everybody
jumping and screaming
and splashing champagne
all over each other.
And splashing champagne
all over each other.
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
News reporter: The coast guard
cutter, sagebrush,
and a Navy helicopter led the
search for the four engine
DC-7 cargo plane that crashed
moments after takeoff from
San Juan airport
on new year's Eve.
Roberto clemente, star
outfielder for the
Pittsburgh pirates, was heading
a mission carrying relief
supplies to the victims of the
Nicaragua earthquake.
A special election will be held
by baseball writers to honor
clemente, who was only the 11th
man in the major leagues
to get 3,000 hits.
To get 3,000 hits.
Bob Cain, nbc news
(vinyl record static)
(Vinyl record static)
I remember getting to the house,
and the team was already there,
and dock was you know,
between Manny and dock, I think
those two guys took it really,
really hard.
Really hard.
He did not look like
dock that I knew.
I know he was hurting very,
very badly, and he was
very emotional.
This changed him a
lot too, you know,
when he seen this.
Life can be, you know,
end any second.
And you're not controlling
your own life,
and suddenly he realized it.
He was a completely
changed person.
Peter golenbock: Do you have any
particular memories of
clemente as a ballplayer?
Was he as great as they say?
Dock: I don't talk about him.
Peter: You don't.
Any particular reason why?
Dock: Because I have it
here and here.
Peter: In your heart?
Dock: Where it stays.
Peter: Do you love the guy?
Dock: Yeah.
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
It must have been some time
not long after
Roberto clemente died in
that horrible plane crash
that his drug use was
continuing to escalate.
I remember at one point he
pushed me against the dresser
in the bedroom and we had these
two little statues on each end,
and I remember reaching
back to grab it.
And then I realized I couldn't
hit him, you know.
And then he says,
"you gonna hit me with that?"
And I remember him jumping me
and throwing me down on the bed
and I remember him jumping me
and throwing me down on the bed
and choking me.
That's when I grabbed our
daughter, I rushed out
of the house, and our friends
lived next door, and when she
cracked her door, I just pushed
my way in and said,
"you gotta get me out of here.
I think he's gonna kill me."
I mean, I really thought my life
was endangered at that point.
In fact, I called
delores stargell,
and I told her, "you've got to
go to the airport with the team,
"and you've got to call me back
and tell me that you see
dock get on that airplane."
I still had this thought, okay,
he's gonna not get on the plane
and I'm gonna go back to
the house, and you know.
And I'm gonna go back to
the house, and you know.
So she went to the airport with
Willie and called me from the
airport to tell me that he
indeed got on the plane with
the team and they had left
and during that road trip,
I got a few things that
I wanted from the house,
and I came back to California.
Drugs had really taken over him.
I think he thought he was taking
them over, but I think it was
the other way around.
Main thing for him is
to stay out of trouble.
And being a pitcher,
what do you have?
And being a pitcher,
what do you have?
You know a pitcher only pitches
one day every four days
or every five days, right?
So you can go, and when you
leave there you should
be going home, but now you're
not married, okay?
So now you can go where?
You can go anywhere
you want to go, right?
So, hey, you kind of get
away from your objective.
You're not doing what you're
supposed to do, first,
because you remember in baseball
you have a lot of distractions.
(Music)
(Music)
Floyd Hoffman: He went
butt wild.
When they came to town,
I went into the hotel
and there was just
ladies everywhere.
Fine ladies everywhere.
I missed a lot of
dock's stories
because of lot of dock stories
came after midnight.
Ray Jones: He'd go in a club
and he could sit down
ray Jones: He'd go in a club
and he could sit down
and he could drink it.
I mean, he'd drink your ass
under the table,
so he did his drinking.
Especially back there
in Pittsburgh.
God dog boy!
Peter golenbock: Were you
doing a lot of dope
at this particular time?
Dock: Oh, yeah.
Dock would call me
at maybe 3:30 A.M.
When I'm in the bed.
I'd pick up the, "hello."
"Big daddy, what you doing?"
I'd say, "I'm asleep, fool!
I'd say, "I'm asleep, fool!
What the hell you
think I'm doing?"
Al Rambo: I would just listen to
him just go on and on and on,
and I could tell that he was out
of his mind and like he was kind
of like reaching out for help.
Floyd Hoffman: He would call
me a lot, and that was due,
because he was homesick,
and lonely.
Al Rambo: He was the kind of guy
who was under control as far as
he was concerned, but maybe he
was reaching out for help,
and I didn't have the ability
to really respond
to his request for help.
To his request for help.
Dock: I know in spring
training I would walk all the
way out to the backstop of a
field and sit out there, drink,
get high and plant weed,
and they wouldn't bother me,
because they'd say,
well, he's here.
He's not out in the
streets nowhere;
there he is, right there.
He's sitting over
there getting drunk!
(Laughs)
(Music)
(Music)
A literary agent of
mine who's a baseball fan
got the notion of suiting up a
number of total amateurs
and visiting spring training at
the very beginning of spring
training when things are pretty
loose, and writing about it.
So I put on the uniform and
went out and started doing
laps with the players.
And I did one lap, and then
by the time...
It was merely a lap around the
base paths, rather short...
It was merely a lap around the
base paths, rather short...
By the time I got to second
base the second time,
two young catchers who are
strong and hearty types,
picked me up under the elbows
and carried me
the rest of the way.
And a tall, black pitcher, said,
"man, you're out of shape!"
And that was dock Ellis.
Well, that day, one of the
Pittsburgh newspaper men
interviewed me.
Somebody told him I was a poet.
And dock said, "you're a poet?"
And I said, "yeah, yeah,
sure I am."
And I said, "yeah, yeah,
sure I am."
He was curious about poetry.
He had never met a poet before.
And out of the spring training,
I wrote the piece called
fathers playing catch with sons.
And I published it in playboy ,
and I think it may have been at
that point that dock said he
wanted to write a book,
and it started from that point.
(Jet engine)
Dock: We flew into San Diego,
and I asked the manager
could I go home, because we
had an off day.
And they normally let you go
home if you're in the area,
so he said, "yeah."
So I took some LSD at the
airport when I took off
with the car, because I knew
where it would hit me...
With the car, because I knew
where it would hit me...
In LA!
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
I, I just took a ride
in a silver machine,
and I'm still feeling mean!
The real high from LSD came
from snorting the LSD,
where you crushed the pills and
you actually snorted the LSD.
And we did LSD in my
girlfriend's house at that time,
and we did LSD in my
girlfriend's house at that time,
and whether or not the story
becomes fictional --
as far as how he got to
San Diego and all that stuff --
I am not privileged
to that information.
A lady picked up the
phone and says,
"who is calling?"
I told him we are calling
for the pirates,
we want to talk to dock Ellis.
She said, "he's sleeping."
I tell him, you better
wake him up,
because he's supposed to
be in San Diego right now.
Because he's supposed to
be in San Diego right now.
(Music)
And the next thing I know,
I'm waking up,
and I go outside,
and I remember her saying,
"you gotta pitch today."
I said, "what are
you talking about?"
And she said, "San Diego,
you gotta pitch."
I said, "no, I pitch tomorrow."
She says, "oh, no, no, no!
Look, look!"
She says, "oh, no, no, no!
Look, look!"
And I said, "well, what
happened to yesterday?"
(Crowd cheering)
So there I was out there,
you know,
high as a Georgia pine,
tripping on acid.
We had a rookie on the team at
that particular time named
Dave cash, and he sat
next to me.
And he kept saying after the
first inning, he said,
"you got a no-no going."
"You got a no-no going."
I said, "yeah, right."
Dave cash: He didn't
respond at the time.
He was so wrapped
up in the game.
And then about a couple innings
later, he came back, he said,
"Dave, I still got
a no-no going."
Dock: I could also feel
the pressure from other players
wanting to tell him to shut up,
because you're not supposed
to say nothing if somebody's
throwing a no-hitter,
because it's bad luck.
Commentator: Bouncer down
to first base.
Oliver, brilliant play.
Underhand's to Ellis, two down.
I hit a couple guys.
It was an ugly no-hitter,
I got letters about it.
But it was a no-no.
Commentator: Everybody in that
bullpen is standing
and walking around nervous.
Strike one.
Now, the pitch.
Strike two.
Dock Ellis, looking out
at the scoreboard,
dock Ellis, looking out
at the scoreboard,
he can see zero, zero, zero
where it says, San Diego.
And dock Ellis checks
his sign and comes down.
Strike three!
They're going after him.
He got it!
(Crowd clapping, cheering)
Commentator: They're mobbing
dock Ellis on a no-hitter!
I remember the phone
started ringing.
Them calling Paula, the news
media, and we're like,
"what? What, what?"
I told him, "hey dock,
you did a hell a job!"
He said, "what the hell I did?"
I said, "what you mean,
what you did?
"You know what you did.
You pitched a no-hitter,"
and he says to me, "no shit!"
Dock: I was gone.
I was in the wind...
To party all night.
(Music)
(Music)
Commentator: With the reds
against the pirates,
the pirates start dock Ellis.
The pirates start dock Ellis.
One night, we're playing at
the stadium and he comes in
the trainer's room and I reach
for the vida oil,
and he says, "oh, what
am I doing here?"
He says, "I'm not going to
be out there too long."
Dock: Cincinnati, to me, had
been intimidating the pirates.
When we were sitting there,
I said, "look at them,
here they come."
I said, "just look at
them shaking hands."
"Just look at them over there!
"And they're going to
kick our ass
and then talk shit
about us."
And I reminded them, I said,
"if you shake hands,
I'm going to hit you."
So I thought of throwing
at my own teammates,
so I thought of throwing
at my own teammates,
hitting them with the ball.
Get away from them!
And they said,
"oh, he's gone nuts."
So they stopped talking to them.
But that was my thing, trying
to let my teammates know,
that these guys are going to
come in here and kiss your ass
and kick your ass,
and laugh at you.
Our players were getting
knocked down,
getting hit and everything,
but the other starting pitchers
from our team wasn't doing
nothing from retaliation.
Dock walked out and stopped
at batting practice and said,
"every one of you coming
to the plate tomorrow,
"every one of you coming
to the plate tomorrow,
I'm hitting you."
Dock: I told the team, it's no
need of us having a meeting,
going over the hitters,
because it's on.
I'm going to do the do today.
(Music, crowd cheering)
He said to me, "Manny,
there's no sign today."
He said, "just you step behind
home plate, I throw the ball."
When the game started, you know,
that was Pete rose.
I threw at him a couple times,
I said, the only thing
I threw at him a couple times,
I said, the only thing
I can hit on him
is his big butt.
First batter,
dock hit him.
When I hit him, he ran down
to first base,
and he had the ball and
flipped it to me.
I said, "I want to kill him!"
Because he was telling me,
it don't hurt.
Second batter,
dock hit him.
Joe Morgan was up next,
and Joe told Pete rose,
"he won't hit me because
I'm a brother."
And I popped his butt.
Third batter,
dock hit him.
Dock: It was all
about intimidation,
and the next hitter
was Dan dries sen.
By this time, the fans
are mumbling.
They have no idea
what's going on.
Dock: And then after him,
was Tony Perez.
And I couldn't hit Tony.
You can't hit anyone
if they know
you're throwing at them.
Threw at Johnny bench
and they took me out.
Then I was gone.
I mean, it was unbelievable.
We could not imagine
what was going on.
Murtaugh came out angry,
because he knew that this
murtaugh came out angry,
because he knew that this
was not a lapse of control.
He knew that dock was
being dock and he yanked
him out of the game.
It was a pretty bizarre
and eventful day.
There was a lot of friction
up there at that batter's box.
You think of stories of dock,
and it's not all praise
because he could piss you off
in a minute, too.
But we're in Montreal and the
starters are all pitching bad.
Murtaugh called a meeting, and
he says, "I don't know what's
murtaugh called a meeting, and
he says, "I don't know what's
"going on with you guys,
but somebody's going
to have to go to the bullpen."
Dock stood right up and said,
"well, who am the one
what am going to the bullpen?"
With an exaggerated
black accent.
And he says, "blass ain't
going to the bullpen,
"moose ain't going to the
bullpen, and you know the
docktor ain't going
to the bullpen!"
And murtaugh...
I don't know what got resolved.
Hopefully, we started
pitching better.
I got to go to the bullpen.
You got to go...
You were the one that
got to go to the bullpen?
If they start moving you now
from a starting pitcher
if they start moving you now
from a starting pitcher
to the bullpen, you really
start thinking, uh,
are they going to move me
off the team?
I'm not going to get as
many opportunities now.
Do they think that I'm sort
of losing it a little bit?
Dock wasn't having a good year.
From spring training to
maybe June or July,
dock had not won a game.
Everybody eventually gets
put out to pasture.
I mean, it happens.
I mean, it happens.
You don't play, you don't
pitch forever.
And it's a tough call,
sometimes, for a manager
or a pitching coach to make
that determination.
Bob smizik: I think they used
him once in the bullpen,
and then the second time,
he refused to go into the game.
This was like on a Thursday
that
he refused to go into the game,
and that Saturday, dock was
going to speak to the team
and apologize to murtaugh
for not going in to pitch.
Dock apparently
got up to speak,
and as he's slowly talking,
people are starting to realize,
and as he's slowly talking,
people are starting to realize,
he's not apologizing,
he's just reinforcing
his belief that they were wrong
in putting him in the bullpen.
By 8:00, the pirates
made an announcement
that dock Ellis had
been suspended.
Commentator: Ellis was
suspended, you know, for awhile.
Tom reich: When you're a
dock Ellis, confrontation
becomes unavoidable.
Becomes unavoidable.
Dock: Maury wills was
doing a telecast,
and made mention that dock Ellis
was being showcased.
He will be somewhere next year.
Commentator: Ellis is just 30
years of age, so he is
by no means an old timer.
Well, it was time for him
at that time, for a change,
like a trade.
Steinbrenner, who I knew
very well, I said to him,
"when he is on the mound, he's
as serious as a heart attack."
What a terrible trade.
What a terrible trade.
One of the worst trades
I have ever seen.
Period.
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
I remember when he went
to the Yankees.
I was thinking a little bit,
dock Ellis and the Yankees,
I don't know!
(Laughs)
(Music and crowd cheering)
Dock: It was a hard spring
training for me,
because I was trying
to fool the players.
Because I was trying
to fool the players.
They partied together.
I told them I didn't
do those things.
They were all new to me,
and I had to have my time
to check 'em out, but what they
were telling me is, "we're cool.
"We're all cool.
"We know you're cool.
"We've found out about you.
Come on!"
I'm saying, "no!"
Peter golenbock: How long did
it take you to check them out?
Dock: First night,
of the season.
We all got high together.
We all got high together.
That team drank,
smoked dope, cocai...
Everything, together.
But it was kick-ass
and take names.
Boy 1: I know plenty of guys
who do drugs
and still put out their best.
Boy 2: Yeah, now what
about that, mister?
I can remember him hitting
Reggie Jackson one time.
Dock: A lot of people talk
about that home run Reggie
hit off of me in the
all-star game.
Dan Epstein: 1971 all-star
game, Reggie Jackson hits
this mega-lific home run
off of dock Ellis.
Commentator: There's a
long drive...
Commentator: There's a
long drive...
That one is going up, it is...
Off the roof.
Dan Epstein: And that's
pretty much the last time
they faced each other
until 1976.
They say that's the reason
why I hit him when
he was with Baltimore,
but that wasn't the case.
It was something else.
He had stood up on the
top of the dugout steps
and challenged me.
So, dock's pitching against
the orioles.
He's facing mark belanger, who's
the orioles' like great field,
no-hit shortstop.
No-hit shortstop.
Dock: While I was
exchanging baseballs,
mark had his head down,
and when I threw the ball back,
belanger almost got hit because
he hadn't come out of the box.
He had his head down.
And they tell me Reggie was
coming up the steps
and he thought I had
thrown at belanger.
And he screamed, "why don't you
hit a big so-and-so like me?"
And I just glanced back.
I said, ooooh, you know.
Again, I was high as a Georgia
pine, and so when he got
to the plate, thurman came out
to the mound and asked me,
to the plate, thurman came out
to the mound and asked me,
he said, "did you hear what
your brother man said?"
I said, "yeah, I heard him.
"Get your little fat butt back
behind the plate
and don't say nothing,
don't give me no signals."
So Reggie comes up and I just,
you know, different pitches
in and out and caught him
leaning, and hit him.
Peter golenbock: Did he say
anything afterwards?
Dock: Yeah.
He says I should have called.
He had the paper, I should
have called to see how he was.
He had the paper, I should
have called to see how he was.
But I was embarrassed I
didn't really hurt him.
I go back in the locker room and
i got three one hundred
dollar bills over my locker,
and I never had to buy
another drink the rest of
the year from them guys.
I remember the incident.
You know, Reggie probably popped
off, said something to him,
and he says, okay, take this.
But there's a way you do it
and there's a time you do it.
Never a ball in the head area.
If you hit somebody and hurt
them or there's a fight
because you're hitting him
and both teams are hurt.
Because you're hitting him
and both teams are hurt.
Ownership is really set back
with a lot of money
sitting on the side,
and for that reason,
during owner's meetings
and gm's meetings,
it was stressed that we
clean the game up.
All the players are
protected now.
They've got shin guards
on their elbows,
they've got pads everywhere.
You can't knock a
hitter down anymore.
They don't pitch inside.
That's why you see so
many home runs hit.
The game has changed.
The game has changed.
Dan Epstein: He had a really
strong year for the Yankees
that year.
I think that was maybe the
second best year of his career.
It seemed like he was
really revitalized.
(Music)
Donald hall: He came up to
look over the manuscript,
and we sat at the table,
at the dining room,
going over it, page by page.
Donald hall is a very good
writer, and I had a lot of
Donald hall is a very good
writer, and I had a lot of
respect for him, but there were
certain things that would've
been extremely damaging to dock.
Donald hall: And he said,
"you can't put that in there."
And I said, "why?"
He said, "I am working
for Mr. steinbrenner."
Tom reich: This was
a very serious issue.
Some of this material could have
been very fatal to his career.
You know, and with a public
figure, and particularly
you know, and with a public
figure, and particularly
at that time, the players
had no leverage.
There were no long-term
deals yet.
Dock: You had to read
between the lines with me,
because in my book it talks
about going back to the hotel,
drinking the orange juice, gin
and smoking "super kools,"
which was...
Super kool was cocaine,
but nobody really knew
what that was back then.
But read through the lines
and you know I was going back
to the hotel to get high.
To the hotel to get high.
I just hate that I was not sober
when I played for the Yankees.
See, I can only vaguely
remember some of that.
I saw greenies, marijuana
and cocaine,
but I never saw meth or heroine
or anything like that.
It was in Pittsburgh.
That's where we met.
Dock was at the
bar having a drink.
He comes up to me and
asks me for my autograph.
He comes up to me and
asks me for my autograph.
I had no idea who he was.
When he was around me, we were
just ordinary people.
I didn't feel like he was a
Reggie Jackson or this big star.
He was dock to me, you know?
Just because he played ball,
that was his job.
He was very low key, but he
just made me feel special.
I don't know what he did on the
road, but he never made me
feel like there was
somebody else, ever.
Feel like there was
somebody else, ever.
I don't remember, you know,
any bad times at that time.
Dock loved being in New York.
Commentator: The Yankees would
like to see themselves get
back into this series, and
they're hoping that, that man,
dock Ellis, a 17-game winner
and a former national leaguer,
can help them stem the red tide.
(Music and crowd cheering)
(Music and crowd cheering)
17 and 8, he went
for the yanks.
He went 17 games
for the Yankees.
They went to the
world series.
Commentator: Pete rose is ready
to start the action.
He gets it going in a hurry.
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
Dan Epstein: I remember him
pitching in the world series
and, you know, not doing well,
but then the Yankees
got completely steamrolled
by the reds in that series.
(Music)
Commentator: Cincinnati scores
one more to make
the final score 7-2.
That was about the end of dock
as a star, but it was a
very stirring comeback by him,
and attributable,
very stirring comeback by him,
and attributable,
I think, to his skill and to
the force of his personality.
I think him and steinbrenner
had some kind of disagreement,
and I was telling him to chill
out, because I love New York,
I didn't want him
to go anywhere.
And of course, he was so
stubborn and bull-headed,
he wanted to speak his mind, and
that ultimately got us traded.
It was a little surprising,
and I think the Yankees
it was a little surprising,
and I think the Yankees
traded him to Oakland,
as I recall, and he wasn't
pitching very well there,
and so we thought we might
be getting a guy who
had suddenly lost it.
But corbett did a lot of things
without explaining them
to anybody.
Brad was a swashbuckling
character who operated on whims,
and so I think he said, this is
the guy we need at the back end
of our rotation now.
And you know what, he was right.
In 1977, when dock came into
the rangers, what I recall
is when I looked at dock on
TV or when I saw him pitch,
is when I looked at dock on
TV or when I saw him pitch,
I thought, I don't want to
meet him in an alleyway.
We were Miles apart in terms of
who we would run around with,
and so our relationship
was strictly professional.
Jim Reeves: In '78 is when
he had the big clash
with Billy hunter.
Billy hunter was old-school
baseball, and dock Ellis
was new-school baseball.
You know, baseball was under
a transition at that time.
You know, baseball was under
a transition at that time.
We were moving away from
basically indentured servitude
to the free agent market.
And the old-school guys
were used to saying,
"you do it my way."
Billy had a, like a lot of
old-school managers did,
had a team rule that players
could not drink
at the hotel bar where
the team was staying,
because that bar was reserved
for the manager.
But dock didn't like that rule,
and he basically led a player
but dock didn't like that rule,
and he basically led a player
revolt saying, "we're grown men,
we can do what we want to,
we can drink where we want to."
He wasn't going to let
Billy hunter take away
what he felt like
were his rights.
And that was kind of
the essence of dock.
Billy hunter was just considered
by the players too dictatorial,
too hard-ass.
And they let him go.
And they let him go.
Dad was a players' owner,
and he listened to the players.
In some ways, Brad corbett
was a father to dock.
Dock may have seen something in
Brad that he may have liked
to have experienced later
on with his father,
and never had the opportunity
to do that.
Dock and dad loved each other.
They were truly friends.
A lot of fond memories of dock.
A lot of fond memories of dock.
And you know, one of the things
that was so amazing about dock
is now we know that he was
really loaded some of the times,
and he never really
seemed out of control.
He seemed like he was having
a good time, you know.
My Uncle remembered one time
when he came over and he drank
a bottle of vodka in 45 minutes,
and he said he didn't seem
any different after the
bottle of vodka was gone
any different after the
bottle of vodka was gone
than when he showed up.
Austine Ellis: When he was
around me, he wasn't
a sloppy drunk.
He spoke well.
I didn't... maybe I was blind
to it, but like I said,
he wasn't what I thought a drunk
was at the time, you know.
Dock: 'Cause I would drink
chivas regal in the morning,
and then some orange juice
or coffee, it didn't make me
no damn difference.
But then, when I go to lunch,
I'm going to eat olives
but then, when I go to lunch,
I'm going to eat olives
from the Martinis,
and I would slip out,
and I was gone to my local bar.
I was drinking the
vodka and shit.
Dock was on the back side.
Dad loved dock as a person,
but it was time to move on.
Dock: The last team I
pitched for was the pirates.
They let me come back
and die a pirate.
That's what I asked them, to let
me come back and die a pirate,
end my career as a pirate.
Dock was a meaningful guy in
my life, and to watch him pitch
and be as good as he was,
and then to get him back,
he was at the end and he knew
he was at the end.
But I was happy to see him back,
because hey, it's dock,
and dock has something to offer.
And dock has something to offer.
And dock said, "I'm shot,
I don't have anyth...
"My arm's gone.
I don't have anything."
It kinda...
It hurt.
Ray Jones: You know when you're
getting close to the end,
you know?
Even when he'd say,
son, my arm is hurting.
Hey, it's over.
He'd say, hell, he can't even
break glass, you know.
But hell, you done had,
you had a hell of a run.
Dock: Anything that would
get me high, I would do it.
Dock: Anything that would
get me high, I would do it.
Cocaine, heroine, mescaline,
crank, alcohol...
I mean, I had guys who'd get
something on the street and say,
"dock, I wonder how high
this would get you."
I'd say, "pinch off some
and let me check it out."
I just remember one
night I drove home,
and I was getting out of the car
and dock came out of the house,
and I didn't think
anything of it.
And I didn't think
anything of it.
I had a babysitter
there at the time.
And anyway, to make a long story
short, he was angry and drunk...
And I didn't know
what was going on.
So, I managed to get the
little girl, the neighbor,
and I took her home, and I made
the mistake of going back.
And I guess he had just gotten
the news of him being released,
and I guess he had just gotten
the news of him being released,
so from about 12 in the evening
until 5:00 in the morning,
he took it out on me...
With guns and rifles
and shotguns,
revolvers in my mouth,
and it was devastating.
He had never done that before,
and he managed to let me
he had never done that before,
and he managed to let me
call a girlfriend, and I told
her to call the police.
And she did.
And the police came, but because
I wasn't screaming or anything,
they didn't enter.
So I guess he finally
got tired or whatever,
and I told him I had
to go to the restroom,
and so he carried me
to the bathroom.
And then he wanted
to have relations.
And then he wanted
to have relations.
And I'm like, you've
got to be kidding me.
And so, we got in the bed,
and he says,
"if I go to sleep, are
you going to kill me?"
And me thinking of my son, I
said, "no, I wouldn't kill you."
I was just so hurt that he did
that, because we were so close,
and we would walk in the room
and people wanted to be us,
because, I mean,
I don't know,
it was just a great
relationship.
It was just a great
relationship.
And I was just so hurt that
after the way he treated me
that he could do that, you know.
And so, I didn't go to sleep.
And when it got light, I was
getting up, and he says,
"where are you going?"
I said, "I'm going to
the hospital."
And so, I got up and got dressed
and went to the hospital
and never went back.
He called me and he said,
"pick me up from the airport.
He called me and he said,
"pick me up from the airport.
Have a bottle of vodka, because
it's going to be my last drink."
He said, "I'm a drug addict
and an alcoholic."
And I said, "what?"
He said, "I'm a drug addict
and an alcoholic.
I'm going into treatment."
And I did, I picked him up
from the airport
and had his bottle of vodka.
And to my knowledge,
that was his last drink.
(Music)
(Music)
Peter golenbock: How long
did you stay in this center?
Dock: I stayed almost two weeks
more than the insurance,
because I was afraid.
You know, it was like I didn't
have the six bullets in my gun.
It was like I had five
and I knew it.
So whatever it was, I was going
to stay there 'til I got it.
You can always change
and be a better person.
You can always change
and be a better person.
I think he went there.
And we tried to go back.
Because I loved him, I mean,
he was wonderful.
It was just that one night
that tore everything apart.
Once you are an addict
or have been cured of it,
you don't have a problem
talking about it,
because that's in your makeup.
Because that's in your makeup.
You're supposed to talk about
it, because after I stopped
using... the thing was,
I needed to talk about it
to make myself fine.
You've got to face what you did,
and then you've got
to live your life.
In Pittsburgh this morning,
major league baseball players
begin testifying about
alleged cocaine deals
with a clubhouse cook.
Keith Hernandez, of the mets,
formerly of the
St. Louis cardinals, said at
one point, he estimates,
that between one-third and a
half of the major league players
that between one-third and a
half of the major league players
were using cocaine.
News reporter: Enos cabell,
a journeyman infielder,
now with the Los Angeles
Dodgers, testified.
Former Pittsburgh pitcher
dock Ellis talked this week
about how tempting he found
cocaine and amphetamines
in the big leagues.
Yes, a lot of money causes
a lot of problems,
and a lot of problems
causes a lot of stress,
a lot of stress causes a lot
of need for medication,
and to medicate those problems,
a lot of athletes,
a lot of individuals seek
drugs and alcohol.
When you used drugs as an
athlete, did it make you
when you used drugs as an
athlete, did it make you
more aggressive on the field?
Did it affect your play?
Well, I can recall one incident,
ed, where I hit some baseba...
Some players for the
Cincinnati reds.
But you're not the only pitcher
who's thrown at someone.
I threw to hit them.
I mean, I threw to hurt
them bad.
But what do young
athletes need, then?
What's the advice?
Educate and make the young
guys in the rookie leagues,
the rookies, aware of drug
dangers and alcohol dangers.
Have an anonymous rehabilitative
program for major league
have an anonymous rehabilitative
program for major league
baseball players, and a thorough
after-care program,
and help these guys.
I felt that I had some
colleagues that were
involved with drugs and alcohol,
and what I had learned,
if I could share that with them,
they might stop
or they might think about
stopping, so I said,
"I'm going to go to school.
I'm going to learn about
this counseling stuff."
And that's what I did.
He loved going to school.
He'd come over.
He'd come over.
He'd want me to help
him with his papers.
He just put his all into what...
Into that.
And that's what he did with
anything he tried,
he was going to 100%.
His dream was that
major league baseball
put a real drug program in.
Baseball hasn't addressed that.
Football hasn't addressed that.
His idea was go
to the clubhouse.
Go to the hotel.
Go to where they're at.
They ain't going to come to you.
They ain't going to come to you.
By the time they come to you,
they've already been locked up
or their old lady's
thrown them out.
And his idea was to go around
to different clubhouses
in different cities and just
have a group on living.
Hi, everybody.
Our guest on sports look today
was once referred to as the
muhammad Ali of baseball.
Dock Ellis, who is now a
counselor, drug counselor
and alcohol abuse counselor
for the New York Yankees,
and on retainer for a number
of other players...
I think dock had a natural
leadership quality.
I think dock had a natural
leadership quality.
There was a wisdom there,
because at this point in
dock Ellis' life, he'd been
through a hell of a lot,
and was really kind of an
inspiring presence on the set.
(Players chatter)
The casting director just said,
"do you know who wants
to come in and just audition
is dock Ellis?"
To come in and just audition
is dock Ellis?"
And I said, "really?
That's kind of amazing."
I know he's retired now,
but why not?
(Cheering)
I most vividly remember dock
when we were doing this
company softball game sequence,
and it was a chance
to actually kind of
talk baseball.
And that was the first time that
I had heard his claim
that he pitched the
no-hitter on LSD.
And he talked about
it with embarrassment.
It wasn't like some sort
of cool calling card.
It wasn't like some sort
of cool calling card.
He was talking about that day,
about sort of his own
disappointment in himself.
So, when he referred to it,
it was with regret.
Even though all the other guys,
comics, hip guys,
you can imagine them chortling
and goading and coming up
with one-liners about it,
and pretending that they
were on acid pitching
and stuff like that,
and he'd joke along with them,
but you also felt
and he'd joke along with them,
but you also felt
that he was disappointed
in himself.
I just remember this look
in his eyes and him saying,
"I'm glad I threw a no-hitter,
I suppose, but I'd probably
trade that for not having pulled
a stunt like that," you know?
And maybe some day some of
these big-time stars
will come around to you kids
because they really care
about you, and they're going to
tell you about some of the hell
and pain they've been through
because of booze and drugs.
Some of you don't know it,
but I'm a former
major league baseball player.
I did some things in baseball
that I see some of you guys
do today.
And you know, some of you who
are off the hook sometime,
and that's just the
way my life is.
I met dock at an aa convention,
and we changed cards
and pleasantries.
And we changed cards
and pleasantries.
I said, you know, if you ever
need me for something, dock,
I'm up at the boys' school
and you want to come up
and give a talk to my young
inmates, more than welcome.
Probably three days,
four days later, I get a call.
He said, "I'm coming up!"
So he came up, and a week later,
I said, "do you want a job?"
I was out to lunch.
Off the hook.
I should not have been
allowed to play baseball
for things that I did.
For things that I did.
But they allowed it.
Larry demery: If you're lying
to 'em, they'll get up and say,
fuck you!
I done a lot of wrong.
That's what they want to hear.
They don't want
to hear bullshit.
They want to hear
the facts, the truth.
And it has to come from here.
He was so effective with
inmates, because he treated
an inmate just as a person.
Dock wouldn't follow all the
institutional rules, now.
Dock wouldn't follow all the
institutional rules, now.
Dock would bring in food,
and that was a no-no.
He'd let them make phone calls.
That was a no-no.
But there was a method
in his madness.
One time he called me in
for a counseling session.
I thought he was fittin' to chew
me out about not coming to group
and tell me that I probably was
going to have to get moved
back to prison.
And he opened up his lunch bag
and he pulled out some Greens
and he opened up his lunch bag
and he pulled out some Greens
and some pork chops and
cornbread, and he put them
on his desk, and he said,
"let's have lunch."
And I sat there and
I thought about it.
I said... because it was against
the rules and policy...
But I thought, I said,
"this man don't even know me
and he's willing to take
this chance, you know."
And I asked him why.
He said, "I know you're tired of
eating this food in here."
And it really showed me that
for no other reason
and it really showed me that
for no other reason
than just because he cared,
he did it.
Because I didn't have anything
to offer; I was doing time.
I talked with dock about,
what do you tell these guys
and young ladies that you are
counseling and trying
to get them to take a
different direction?
And he said, "I would just talk
about the times that I really
"hit rock bottom, and I talk
about it very candidly and say,
'you really don't
ever want to be here.'"
and he would talk about how
lucky he was to have been able
and he would talk about how
lucky he was to have been able
to live through that, because
with what dock experienced
during that time of his life,
he should have passed away then.
And when you listen to stories
from a man that had it all
and lost it all, it's a big
eye-opener when you can relate
to a guy that had that
kind of success,
and has the same
problems you have.
Victor beecham: I was a gang
member for over 20 years.
I've been shot, I've
been in many gun battles.
I've been shot, I've
been in many gun battles.
Life was at the point to where
it really didn't matter.
And dock Ellis helped me get
back into the normalities
of life, to look things as
they are, realistically,
and make good decisions
and apply ethics and morals.
Dad had a lifelong battle
with alcohol,
and about '97,
and about '97,
he really kind of hit bottom.
He was drinking, you know,
two bottles of vodka a day
and two bottles of wine a day
and cognac, and it was time.
And dock helped dad, talked him
through what he had to do,
how it had to happen, you know,
and helped him get
how it had to happen, you know,
and helped him get
to the other side.
I do motivational speakings
for people that are
incarcerated and on parole.
I run homeless shelters.
I help the youth.
And I was just thinking,
"dock, can you see me now?"
The first pitch, the first
strike out, Willie mays,
the first pitch, the first
strike out, Willie mays,
the first win against the
Dodgers, you know,
I could put groups of
kids in that category.
I get calls now from guys...
(Sobbing) A guy called me
the other night.
He says, "dock, that shit you
talked about, fear," he says,
he says, "dock, that shit you
talked about, fear," he says,
"I know what that shit is now,
I've been promoted."
(Laughs)
He said, "I didn't know that,
that's all it was.
I was scared."
Because I used to tell him he
could do anything he wanted to.
He talked so much shit.
I said, "man, you could
sell anything."
But he didn't have no
confidence in himself,
because he was scared.
And he called me to tell me,
he says, "I know what that shit
is now, all that shit you talked
about in the class."
Is now, all that shit you talked
about in the class."
But that's the reward I get.
(Silent film)
(Silent film)
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
(Music)
(Clears throat)
I couldn't view the body.
I couldn't view the body.
And so the last memory that
I have in him is,
and I try to shut it off on
everybody that funerals I go to,
is remembering him the last
time that he stood up
and we were talking with
each other.
And, um...
And that's pretty much it.
(Music)
Dock was a great human being.
And it was very easy
for me to eulogize him.
And it was very easy
for me to eulogize him.
At first, I thought it was hard,
but once I got there,
it was very easy to talk about
somebody that you liked
and somebody that you loved.
As guys talk about their homeys,
he was my homey.
He was content.
He had found peace with himself.
You've got to uplift
yourself before you can
lift somebody else.
And that's what he did.
And I told him all those
things before he died,
and I told him all those
things before he died,
what he did to translate
me into a better person.
A lot of kids nowadays,
especially the players,
don't understand what
happened or what dock Ellis
type of people did.
Jackie Robinson...
He might have said it all...
(Sobbing)
When he said, you might
want to give up.
But I never did,
and I never will.