Sign this petition

I’ve signed way less important petitions than this one.

To: Major League Baseball, MLB Network

We the undersigned humbly, and with all due respect, ask the MLB Network to air the June 12, 1970 game between the San Diego Padres and the Pittsburgh Pirates. On that day the Pirates’ pitcher
Dock Phillip Ellis threw what was at the time the 3rd no-hitter in Pirates history and it was a seminal moment in baseball history. The fans would like to relive this moment and want to see it rerun on the MLB Network.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Do your part for democracy here.


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Ernest
14 years ago

The link doesnt work.  It takes me to the “page doesnt exist” screen.  Maybe its just me.

bigcatasroma
14 years ago

Same.

Craig Calcaterra
14 years ago

Oops. Link should be fixed now.

Bob Timmermann
14 years ago

Do we know that a complete tape of the game exists? Was it even televised?

It was the first game of a twi-night doubleheader on a Friday? Home many road games would the Pirates have telecast then? Especially from the West Coast. Especially ones that started at weird times?

Craig Calcaterra
14 years ago

I’ve seen footage of it before. I’m guessing that if there’s some footage that there’s a whole game broadcast around somewhere.

Bob Timmermann
14 years ago

Has the footage always been the same part of the game? It’s possible that some San Diego news station taped parts of the game and that’s what gets shown.

Craig Calcaterra
14 years ago

Good point.  If only I knew someone in southern California who was good at research . . . wink

Steve Stein
14 years ago

And almost as importantly, can we see the results of Ellis’s post-game drug test?

Mark Armour
14 years ago

For the record, there are only a handful of complete broadcasts of regular season major leagues games available before 1975.  Like, there might are five or eight.  The oldest is a Red Sox-Twins game from 1967, the next the last game.  This is available commercially.  There is a Phillies-Cubs game from 1969.  An Expos-Pirates game from 1970.

There are snippets (a few innings) of several other games.

For the World Series, it is better.  But still, there are missing (incomplete) games from the 1970s.

Bob Timmermann
14 years ago

You need someone from Pittsburgh to research if it was shown on TV there. I can tell you that the answer about whether or not the game was shown in San Diego is “No.”

The 1970 Padres drew a whopping 643,979 fans.

bobbychez
14 years ago

Not to be a stickler for grammar, but isn’t it still the 3rd no hitter in Pirates history. I don’t think anyone went back and threw another before it.

The real reason for the comment is that it was actually the 4th no hitter in Pirates history. So maybe somebody did go back and pitch a no-no for the Bucs after Dock threw his.

Paul C
14 years ago

FOR THE LIFE OF ME I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY THE MLB NETWORK DOESN’T PLAY OLD TWIB EPISODES.  I SHOULD START THAT PETITION.  AND YES, THE CAPS WERE WARRANTED AND NECESSARY.

slanch
14 years ago

Bobby Chez, you are absolutely correct, I mis-typed, it was the 4th no-hitter in Pirates history, or 5th if you count Harvey Haddick’s 12 innings of perfect ball before he lost it and the game in the 13th in 1959.

After Ellis though John Candelaria threw one in 1976 and Francisco Cordova and Juan Rincon combined on a 10-inning no-hit win in 1997.

slanch
14 years ago

also, SIGN THIS PETITION! Thanks Hardball and Shysterball!

Jamie
14 years ago

man, i would LOVE to see some of this game.  or even a radio broadcast!

Jonathan Fellows
14 years ago

@ Mark Armour:  Wouldn’t the Games of the Week still be around?  Or would they all have been taped over?

In the mid-70s Monday Night Baseball would sometimes be shown on tape delay on the West Coast.  Any of those still around?

Mark Armour
14 years ago

None of these games were saved as a matter of policy.  Generally the games were on film, and were literally sliced up for various highlight shows.  Some games were preserved via kinescope (a process that actually records the image directly off a television.  I have a copy of Game 5 of the 1970 World Series that looks like it could have been shown on TV yesterday (except for the lack of replays and excessive banter).

For many years the World Series games were “recorded” and then sent overseas to the military bases.  Some of these have survived.

That all said, on occasion something turns up.  Larsen’s perfect game was discovered just a couple of years ago.  A 1969 Cubs-Phillies game was the “oldest” regular season game for a long time, until the discovery a few years ago of a 1967 Red Sox-Twins game (in color!).  There is hope.  For example, I read recently that someone (I think it was Bill Monboquette in 1962) was given a copy of his no-hitter right after it happened.  It is possible that old players or broadcasters have some games stashed away.

If you have the MLB network, you likely have seen a few old games and wonder why they keep showing the same games.  Why do they show a 1970 game between the Expos and Pirates?  Gee, it seems like I saw this Mark Fidrych game against the Yankeees recently?  The reason is that they only have a handful of games, and you are seeing everything that they have.  If they had Dock Ellis’s no-hitter, I guarantee you they would show it often.

Christopher Simonds
14 years ago

L et’s
S ee
D ock!

grin