‘High as a Georgia pine’ – World champion pitched infamous no-hitter while tripping on LSD
Dock Ellis is responsible for a truly astonishing sporting feat, and it was achieved while he was tripping on LSD. Friday June 12, 1970, has become an infamous date in baseball history, one that is no doubt etched on the brain of countless fans. Ellis was one of the best pitchers of his era, and pitched an iconic no-hitter in 1970Getty Ellis, one of the best pitchers of the era, was set to start as the Pittsburgh Pirates played the San Diego Padres that night. With a day off on Thursday as the Pirates arrived for their first west coast road trip of the season, the MLB star decided to make the short journey to his hometown of Los Angeles, since the team didn’t play until 24 hours later. He rented a car and dropped a tab of acid, timing it so it would hit right as he arrived at the home of a friend’s girlfriend. “What’s wrong with you?” she asked upon his arrival. “I’m as high as a Georgia pine,” Ellis responded. The group were said to have caught up over ‘heroic amounts booze and marijuana’ until Ellis drifted off to sleep. He dropped more acid after waking from what he thought was a nap, believing it still to be Thursday. But that wasn’t the case, and when a friend burst into the room with a newspaper dated for Friday, Ellis found himself in a hole. Not only were the Pirates scheduled to play a doubleheader that day, but he was scheduled to pitch. Incredibly, Ellis was hustled onto a plane and made it to San Diego Stadium just in time to take the mound at 6:05pm. Ellis claimed to have pitched his no-hitter against the Padres while tripping on LSDGetty The rest, as they say, is history. Instead of impeding his ability to throw accurate pitches, the LSD trip may well have contributed to a legendary no-hitter. According to Ellis himself, the psychedelic drug seemed to leave ‘trails’ that actually helped his placement. “I can only remember bits and pieces of the game,” he told the Pittsburgh Press in 1984, 14 years later. “I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the glove (of catcher Jerry May), but I didn’t hit the glove too much. “I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times.” Ellis’ infamous LSD-inspired no-hitter came at San Diego Stadium in 1970Getty According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in actuality, Ellis hit only one batter that night at San Diego Stadium. But he was undoubtedly wild against the Padres. He recorded more walks (eight) than strikeouts (six), hit another batsman, allowed three stolen bases, and was bailed out by highlight-reel plays in the field by teammates Bill Mazeroski and Matty Alou. That was an unusual occurrence for a pitcher who usually played with decent control. But it’s perhaps explained by what Ellis claimed to have seen at the ballpark. “I started having a crazy idea in the fourth inning that Richard Nixon was the home plate umpire,” he recounted to the New York Times. “And once I thought I was pitching a baseball to Jimi Hendrix, who to me was holding a guitar and swinging it over the plate.” Quite incredibly, after striking out Ed Spiezio on a curveball in the bottom of the ninth, Ellis completed his LSD trip without surrendering a single hit in a 2-0 victory. The achievement is one of only 326 no-hitters out of close to 240,000 games played in MLB history since 1876. Ellis won the world series in 1971, shortly after his LSD gameGetty Alone, that effort would secure Ellis his place in baseball lore, and the suggestion that he did it while tripping on LSD is almost beyond belief. In the years since his revelation, some sceptics have cast doubt on the validity of the story. But Ellis, up to his death in 2008, had never backtracked from any of his claims. While there remains uncertainty over his use of LSD immediately prior to that historic game, Ellis did not romanticize his drug abuse and its alleged connection to the no-hitter. He was not proud of it, and there’s little doubt that abuse of drugs and alcohol persisted throughout his major league career. Ellis was famous for his achievements both on and off the fieldGetty The immensity of Ellis’ psychedelic feat also came to overshadow his accomplishments both on and off the field. He was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won five National League Eastern Division titles in six years between 1970 and 1975. He won the World Series in 1971. The Pirates also had another iconic world champion, who used to set his teammates on fire as a practical joke. Throughout a 12-year career, Ellis was also unafraid to voice his opinions on social injustice and institutionalized racism in a sport that was slow to integrate, becoming a vocal advocate for free agency and equality. His infamous no-hitter in 1970, though, will never be forgotten either.
Dock Ellis is responsible for a truly astonishing sporting feat, and it was achieved while he was tripping on LSD.
Friday June 12, 1970, has become an infamous date in baseball history, one that is no doubt etched on the brain of countless fans.
Ellis, one of the best pitchers of the era, was set to start as the Pittsburgh Pirates played the San Diego Padres that night.
With a day off on Thursday as the Pirates arrived for their first west coast road trip of the season, the MLB star decided to make the short journey to his hometown of Los Angeles, since the team didn’t play until 24 hours later.
He rented a car and dropped a tab of acid, timing it so it would hit right as he arrived at the home of a friend’s girlfriend.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked upon his arrival.
“I’m as high as a Georgia pine,” Ellis responded.
The group were said to have caught up over ‘heroic amounts booze and marijuana’ until Ellis drifted off to sleep.
He dropped more acid after waking from what he thought was a nap, believing it still to be Thursday.
But that wasn’t the case, and when a friend burst into the room with a newspaper dated for Friday, Ellis found himself in a hole.
Not only were the Pirates scheduled to play a doubleheader that day, but he was scheduled to pitch.
Incredibly, Ellis was hustled onto a plane and made it to San Diego Stadium just in time to take the mound at 6:05pm.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Instead of impeding his ability to throw accurate pitches, the LSD trip may well have contributed to a legendary no-hitter.
According to Ellis himself, the psychedelic drug seemed to leave ‘trails’ that actually helped his placement.
“I can only remember bits and pieces of the game,” he told the Pittsburgh Press in 1984, 14 years later.
“I had a feeling of euphoria. I was zeroed in on the glove (of catcher Jerry May), but I didn’t hit the glove too much.
“I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times.”
According to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, in actuality, Ellis hit only one batter that night at San Diego Stadium.
But he was undoubtedly wild against the Padres.
He recorded more walks (eight) than strikeouts (six), hit another batsman, allowed three stolen bases, and was bailed out by highlight-reel plays in the field by teammates Bill Mazeroski and Matty Alou.
That was an unusual occurrence for a pitcher who usually played with decent control. But it’s perhaps explained by what Ellis claimed to have seen at the ballpark.
“I started having a crazy idea in the fourth inning that Richard Nixon was the home plate umpire,” he recounted to the New York Times.
“And once I thought I was pitching a baseball to Jimi Hendrix, who to me was holding a guitar and swinging it over the plate.”
Quite incredibly, after striking out Ed Spiezio on a curveball in the bottom of the ninth, Ellis completed his LSD trip without surrendering a single hit in a 2-0 victory.
The achievement is one of only 326 no-hitters out of close to 240,000 games played in MLB history since 1876.
Alone, that effort would secure Ellis his place in baseball lore, and the suggestion that he did it while tripping on LSD is almost beyond belief.
In the years since his revelation, some sceptics have cast doubt on the validity of the story. But Ellis, up to his death in 2008, had never backtracked from any of his claims.
While there remains uncertainty over his use of LSD immediately prior to that historic game, Ellis did not romanticize his drug abuse and its alleged connection to the no-hitter.
He was not proud of it, and there’s little doubt that abuse of drugs and alcohol persisted throughout his major league career.
The immensity of Ellis’ psychedelic feat also came to overshadow his accomplishments both on and off the field.
He was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won five National League Eastern Division titles in six years between 1970 and 1975. He won the World Series in 1971.
The Pirates also had another iconic world champion, who used to set his teammates on fire as a practical joke.
Throughout a 12-year career, Ellis was also unafraid to voice his opinions on social injustice and institutionalized racism in a sport that was slow to integrate, becoming a vocal advocate for free agency and equality.
His infamous no-hitter in 1970, though, will never be forgotten either.
