Former New York Yankee, Pittsburgh Pirate Dock Ellis Dies at 63

(Zell's Pinstripe Blog)

Dock Philip Ellis passed away yesterday from a liver ailment. He died at the USC Medical Center in Los Angeles. Ellis broke into the major leagues with the Pirates in 1968. He also had brief stints with the Yankees, Athletics, Rangers, and Mets. He wasn’t a dominating pitcher of his era, but he was a very talented pitcher that most teams would want to have.

He compiled these numbers over 12 seasons in the big leagues:

2127.2IP   (W-L) 138-119   3.46ERA   1136K   (1X All-Star)

Dock spent a little over one year with the Yankees, where he really performed at a high level. In 1976, he was part of one of the best rotations in baseball at the time. He was pitching alongside Hunter, Figueroa, Holtzman, Alexander, and May. They combined for 76 wins and 48 losses.

Three pitchers on the staff with 17+ wins was very impressive. In ‘76, Ellis put up these numbers: 211.2IP  (W-L) 17-8  3.19ERA  65K  1.28WHIP. In the end, Dock was considered a Pirate. He spent eight full seasons with the Pirates, and went back to Pittsburgh at the end of his career to put on the cap one last time.

• Ellis gave up Reggie Jackson’s monster HR shot off the light tower at Tiger Stadium.
• He wasdiagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, and was on a waiting list for a liver transplant seven months ago.
• Donald Hall, (Ellis’ biographer) titled the story of his life, “Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball.”
• In 1970, Ellis overcame eight walks to pitch a no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader at San Diego. After he retired, he said he was high on LSD during the victory.
• Ellis was traded with Willie Randolph and Ken Brett from the Pirates to the Yankees for Doc Medich after the 1975 season. Randolph won a game in the AL championship series against KC
• Dock spent his last years working for the California Department of Corrections to aid released inmates’ switch back into community life.
• The Yankees hired Ellis in 1986 to offer guidance to their minor leaguers on drug and alcohol abuse.

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“Dock Ellis was my first client in baseball, and he gave me as much joy as anybody outside of my family,” Reich, who was based in Pittsburgh when Ellis came to prominence with the Pirates, told ESPN.com. “He was so unique. He was viewed by some people as an outlaw, but he was far from that. He was so ahead of his time. He was so intuitive and smart and talented and independent. And he wasn’t about to roll over for the incredible prejudices that existed at the time.”

“He was a very special person and he had an absolute army of fans and friends. He was at the cutting edge of so many issues, and he never backed down. I was proud to be his friend and stand with him.”

“It’s a tremendous loss to the family,” she said. “He’s been struggling for about a year with the end stages of liver disease.”

“I’ve been in this business for 40 years and there was never a more standup guy,” former agent Tom Reich said.

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RIP Dock Ellis.