Saturday, December 20, 2008

Dock Ellis, 1945 - 2008.

According to MLB.com, Dock Ellis passed away yesterday as the result of liver failure. He was 63.

Ellis, seen here on card number 691 of the 1979 Topps set, was a successful pitcher with the Pirates and Yankees before coming to Texas via Oakland. In Texas his record would be 20-21 in two partial, and one full seasons.

Perhaps better known for being something of a loose cannon, Dock was an admitted illicit drug abuser. He hurled a no hitter for the Pirates in 1970 and later claimed to have been under the influence of LSD at the time.

After retirement Ellis settled down some. Recently he was working with the California Department of Corrections to assist inmates in returning to society.

1 comment:

tastelikedirt said...

Bummer. His book is one of my favorite baseball books.