Long before major league baseball had names like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire, and Jose Canseco there was Dock Phillip Ellis. On June 12, 1970 Doc Ellis threw the first no-no (that’s a no hitter for those of you who don’t follow baseball) of the 1970 MLB season. While throwing a no hitter is impressive enough by itself, Ellis had one thing in common with the big name ball players of today – rampant drug use. But Ellis was a little more rock star and a little less prima donna because his drug of choice was LSD.
A year before his death, Ellis did a moment by moment recollection (what he could remember, anyway) of the LSD no-no for NPR. Blagden and Isenberg were so inspired by the original audio (LSD makes everything genius) that they used the original audio to help craft an animated short of the events. You’re never going to know what it feels like to pitch a no hitter in baseball, but after the video at least you’ll know what it LSD feels like.
Doc Ellis & The LSD No-No
