While our regular blogger Joe Stiglich tries to enjoy his well-earned vacation time, we thought we’d toss a (useless?) nugget or two your way:
Former major league pitcher Dock Ellis, who died at age 63 on Friday, spent two forgettable months with the Oakland A’s in 1977.
For a man who once boasted of throwing a no-hitter while on LSD, Ellis didn’t seem to have much “help” while pitching for an A’s team that would eventually finish in last place in the A.L. West. Ellis went 1-5 with a 9.69 ERA in seven starts for Oakland. Charlie Finley had apparently seen enough of Ellis and sold him to Texas two months later.
The A’s had acquired Ellis from the Yankees in a four-player deal in late April that sent Mike Torrez to New York. And, one-time Pirate seemingly would feel at home in Oakland since he was one of eight ex-Pirates on the A’s roster (Manny Sanguillen, Doc Medich, Dave Giusti, Doug Bair, Rick Langford, Tony Armas and Mitchell Page were the others).
Who knows, maybe Ellis didn’t appreciate the Pittsburgh influence. One thing was clear: Dock Ellis still had something left when he departed Oakland. He spent the rest of the ’77 season going 10-6 with a 2.90 ERA for the Rangers.
