Just received an e-mail from Captain Will, it said…
“One of my favorites. I used to love to watch him pitch
When he was with Yanks, one preseason the Yanks were struggling and a reporter asked Dock, “Why are the Yanks struggling?” Dock replied, “Well it is by design, the more we lose, the more George flies down here, and the more George flies, the better the odds are of a plane crash.”
In 1970 Dock overcame eight walks in the first game of a doubleheader against the Padres to throw a no-hitter, several years later, he admitted he was high on LSD when he accomplished the feat. He was 19-9 with the Buccos in 1971 when the Pirates won the World Series. On July 13, 1971, Reggie Jackson blasted what almost certainly is the longest home run ever hit in an All-Star game, and one of the longest of all time. Jackson’s home run came at Tiger Stadium in Detroit off the NL pitcher, Dock Ellis. After the 1975 season Ellis was traded to the Yankees along with Willie Randolph & Ken Brett, in exchange for Doc Medich.
In 1986 the Yankees hired him to offer guidance to their minor leaguers on drug & alcohol abuse. Ellis kept up his campaign against addiction for the rest of his life, and frequently joined former teammates to support them on their charity work.
Dock Ellis always spoke his mind, he was one of a kind, he will be missed.