No No: A Dockumentary (2014)

NO NO: A DOCKUMENTARY  (2014)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Jeff Radice
As a starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dock Ellis secured his place in baseball legend back in June 1970, when he took the mound against the San Diego Padres and became the first (and undoubtedly last) human being to throw a major-league no-hitter while tripping on LSD. It turns out there was a lot more to Dock's life than that, and that's what this documentary's about. As a young player, Ellis was cocky and flamboyant - "the Ali of baseball." He was assertive and outspoken in a way that earlier black players like Mays and Banks and Aaron couldn't be and weren't. As a pitcher, he was good but not overpowering, and erratic. He had a journeyman's career with a journeyman's share of ups and downs, enhanced, or maybe just amplified, by his claim that he was high on something every time he pitched. In fact, it was only after his time on the field ended, at about the point where you'd expect a drug-addicted, washed-up athlete to self-destruct, that Ellis found his life's calling, as a knowing and articulate rehab counselor. Radice, thankfully, doesn't try to whitewash Dock's dark side, and two ex-wives testify to his sometimes abusive behavior. But it's a remarkable life story, in which the no-no on acid is just one (admittedly entertaining) chapter. Ellis died of cirrhosis in 2008. He was 62.