Musicians High On Dock Ellis’ Legacy

Legendary pitcher Dock Ellis, who spent the majority of his 12-year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates passed away December 19 at the age of 63. You might be asking yourself, “Since this isn’t MLB.com, why is this bit of news on the MAGNET site?” Well, for a hurler who was merely pretty good, Ellis spawned at least five songs about him, mostly due to his claim that he tossed his 1971 no-hitter while on LSD. (Ironically, Ellis went on to become a drug-and-alcohol abuse counselor.) He also gave up a homerun to Reggie Jackson in that year’s All-Star Game that still hasn’t landed, but we digress.

The lineup: The S.F. Seals’ “Dock Ellis,” found here as an mp3. A version of “outlaw country” band Zachariah and the Lobos Riders’ “Dock Ellis” is on YouTube here, as is Todd Snider’s “America’s Favorite Pastime” here. Two others: mid-’90s art rockers Lotion’s “Dock Ellis,” which may have been written under the influence of acid (“Shoulder glimpse, I hold your head bone/Fingers find my dorsal fin”) and singer/songwriter Chuck Brodsky’s “Doc Ellis’ No-No.”