On June 12th 1970, Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter for the Pittsburgh
Pirates. In 136 years of baseball history, only 276 no-hitters have been
recorded. Dock is the only pitcher to ever claim he accomplished his
while high on LSD.
During his 12 years in the major leagues, Dock
lived the expression “Black is Beautiful!” He wore curlers on the
field. He stepped out of his Cadillac wearing the widest bell bottoms
and the broadest collars. When he put on his uniform, he was one of the
most intimidating pitchers of the 1970s.
Dock was often at the
forefront of controversy and has been called the “Muhammad Ali of
Baseball.” He was an outspoken leader of a new wave of civil rights in
sports, when black athletes were no longer content to accept
second-class treatment or keep their mouths shut about indignities. For
this, the press labeled him a militant.
After Dock retired from
baseball, he was as outspoken about his addictions to alcohol and
amphetamines as he had been about racial prejudice during his career. He
spent his last decades using that blunt honesty as a counselor helping
other addicts, until his death from liver disease in 2008. This will be
the first time his legend – and the story of the man behind it – will be
told in a feature film.