Dock Ellis
Born: 3/11/1945 in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Died: 12/19/2008 in Los Angeles, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1968-06-18 | Final Game: 1979-09-29
Bats: B | Throws: R | Height: 6'3" | Weight: 205 lbs
Full name: Dock Phillip Ellis
Biography
Dock Ellis was a notable pitcher in Major League Baseball, whose career spanned from 1968 to 1979. Born in 1945, he made a significant impact on the game during a transformative era in baseball, showcasing his talents primarily with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Over his career, he recorded a win-loss record of 138-119 and maintained a respectable earned run average (ERA) of 3.46. Ellis was known for his distinctive pitching style and competitive spirit, which contributed to his achievement of 1,136 strikeouts and a single save during his time on the mound. His performance earned him an All-Star selection, highlighting his status as one of the premier pitchers of his era.
Ellis's career is perhaps most famously remembered for his unconventional no-hitter on June 12, 1970, which he pitched while under the influence of LSD, an event that has become a legendary anecdote in baseball history. His willingness to speak candidly about his struggles with substance abuse and the challenges he faced off the field made him a prominent figure in discussions about mental health and addiction in sports. Dock Ellis's legacy extends beyond his statistics; he was a trailblazer who used his platform to advocate for players’ rights and social justice, leaving an indelible mark on the game long after his retirement.
Career Pitching Statistics
| W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | HR | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 138 | 119 | 345 | 317 | 71 | 14 | 1 | 2127.7 | 2067 | 817 | 140 | 674 | 1136 | 3.46 | 0 |
Season-by-Season Pitching
| Year | Team | Lg | W | L | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA | Pitcher PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | PIT | NL | 6 | 5 | 26 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 104.0 | 82 | 29 | 38 | 52 | 2.51 | -74.5 |
| 1969 | PIT | NL | 11 | 17 | 35 | 33 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 218.7 | 206 | 87 | 76 | 173 | 3.58 | 4322.7 |
| 1970 | PIT | NL | 13 | 10 | 30 | 30 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 201.7 | 194 | 72 | 87 | 128 | 3.21 | 2592.6 |
| 1971 | PIT | NL | 19 | 9 | 31 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 226.7 | 207 | 77 | 63 | 137 | 3.06 | 2999.9 |
| 1972 | PIT | NL | 15 | 7 | 25 | 25 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 163.3 | 156 | 49 | 33 | 96 | 2.70 | 3805.8 |
| 1973 | PIT | NL | 12 | 14 | 28 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 192.0 | 176 | 65 | 55 | 122 | 3.05 | 5109.9 |
| 1974 | PIT | NL | 12 | 9 | 26 | 26 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 176.7 | 163 | 62 | 41 | 91 | 3.16 | 1407.9 |
| 1975 | PIT | NL | 8 | 9 | 27 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 140.0 | 163 | 59 | 43 | 69 | 3.79 | 1036.6 |
| 1976 | NYY | AL | 17 | 8 | 32 | 32 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 211.7 | 195 | 75 | 76 | 65 | 3.19 | - |
| 1977 | NYY | AL | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19.7 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 1.83 | - |
| 1977 | OAK | AL | 1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26.0 | 35 | 28 | 14 | 11 | 9.69 | -1388.1 |
| 1977 | TEX | AL | 10 | 6 | 23 | 22 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 167.3 | 158 | 54 | 42 | 90 | 2.90 | 2480.5 |
| 1978 | TEX | AL | 9 | 7 | 22 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 141.3 | 131 | 66 | 46 | 45 | 4.20 | -2398.6 |
| 1979 | NYN | NL | 3 | 7 | 17 | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 85.0 | 110 | 57 | 34 | 41 | 6.04 | -815.6 |
| 1979 | PIT | NL | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2.57 | 0.0 |
| 1979 | TEX | AL | 1 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46.7 | 64 | 31 | 16 | 10 | 5.98 | -851.6 |
Career Batting Statistics
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 388 | 489 | 42 | 65 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 4 | 27 | 201 | 0.133 | 0.178 | 0.141 | 0.319 | -3311.4 |
Season-by-Season Batting
| Year | Team | Lg | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | AVG | PIV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | PIT | NL | 27 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0.069 | 0.0 |
| 1969 | PIT | NL | 37 | 68 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 40 | 0.088 | -783.5 |
| 1970 | PIT | NL | 38 | 70 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 0.100 | -783.3 |
| 1971 | PIT | NL | 44 | 79 | 11 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 29 | 0.203 | -399.2 |
| 1972 | PIT | NL | 36 | 59 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 22 | 0.153 | -481.8 |
| 1973 | PIT | NL | 29 | 65 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 32 | 0.108 | -697.3 |
| 1974 | PIT | NL | 30 | 56 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 15 | 0.214 | -166.2 |
| 1975 | PIT | NL | 30 | 36 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 0.111 | 0.0 |
| 1976 | NYY | AL | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1977 | NYY | AL | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1977 | OAK | AL | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1977 | TEX | AL | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1978 | TEX | AL | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
| 1979 | NYN | NL | 17 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0.077 | 0.0 |
| 1979 | PIT | NL | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
| 1979 | TEX | AL | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0.0 |
Postseason Statistics
Playoff Career Batting
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0.000 |
Playoff Batting by Year
| Year | Round | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | ALCS | NYA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1976 | WS | NYA | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1975 | NLCS | PIT | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| 1972 | NLCS | PIT | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
| 1971 | WS | PIT | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
| 1971 | NLCS | PIT | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.000 |
| 1970 | NLCS | PIT | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 |
Playoff Career Pitching
| W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 35.3 | 39 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 4.08 |
Playoff Pitching by Year
| Year | Round | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | ALCS | NYA | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8.0 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 3.38 |
| 1976 | WS | NYA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.3 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 10.80 |
| 1975 | NLCS | PIT | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
| 1972 | NLCS | PIT | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.00 |
| 1971 | NLCS | PIT | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5.0 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3.60 |
| 1971 | WS | PIT | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2.3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 15.43 |
| 1970 | NLCS | PIT | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9.7 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2.79 |
Fielding Statistics
Career Fielding Totals by Position
| Position | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 345 | 317 | 173 | 287 | 23 | 26 |
Season-by-Season Fielding
| Year | Team | Pos | G | GS | PO | A | E | DP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | PIT | P | 26 | 10 | 5 | 18 | 0 | 2 |
| 1969 | PIT | P | 35 | 33 | 15 | 35 | 3 | 2 |
| 1970 | PIT | P | 30 | 30 | 21 | 34 | 2 | 3 |
| 1971 | PIT | P | 31 | 31 | 22 | 32 | 2 | 1 |
| 1972 | PIT | P | 25 | 25 | 16 | 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 1973 | PIT | P | 28 | 28 | 16 | 30 | 1 | 3 |
| 1974 | PIT | P | 26 | 26 | 14 | 22 | 4 | 2 |
| 1975 | PIT | P | 27 | 24 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 4 |
| 1976 | NYA | P | 32 | 32 | 19 | 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 1977 | NYA | P | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 1977 | OAK | P | 7 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 1977 | TEX | P | 23 | 22 | 15 | 16 | 3 | 4 |
| 1978 | TEX | P | 22 | 22 | 11 | 22 | 2 | 2 |
| 1979 | NYN | P | 17 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| 1979 | PIT | P | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1979 | TEX | P | 10 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
Career Games by Position
| Position | Games |
|---|---|
| Pitcher | 345 |
Awards & Honors
| Year | Award | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1976 | TSN Comeback Player of the Year |
Award Voting History
| Year | Award | League | Finish | Points Won | Points Max | Votes First |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Cy Young Award | NL | 4th | 9.0 | 120 | 0 |