Dock Ellis died of liver disease yesterday, stirring memories of baseball in the early '70's. That was a time of heightened, overt black pride in baseball and drug experimentation in our larger society, and Ellis came to embody both. Jay Jaffe remembers Dock, and you can read more about his drug-"induced" no-hitter in this article.
Those of us who revel in quirky baseball trivia remember that he was once traded for George Medich (and Willie Randolph), who was an actual, real-live doctor inevitably nicknamed Doc. Yes, it was a trade of Doc(k)s.
Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.
