Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t he find out that he was pitching that day b/c his friend and co-tripper saw it in the sportspage? And wasn’t he in another city?

http://www.snopes.com/sports/baseball/ellis.asp

http://weekendamerica.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/03/28/pitch/

I think I look up this story every few months just to read about it. I feel like there are a lot of details that have been added post facto but that doesn’t make the story any less awesome.

I got to watch a Ranger game with him a few years ago at the Ballpark, through a mutual friend. The friend said, “Go ahead Dock, tell him the LSD story.” He was very open about it, and of course sober as a judge by now. We talked about the Reggie homer, and subsequent beaning, and of course the Pirate days w/ Al Oliver. Good dude and big, the TV never does justice to the size of some athletes. That’s why it was so sad to hear how much he weighed at the end.