Tales From the Bargain Bin – Dock Ellis

Name: Doc Ellis

Position: SP

Team: Pittsburgh Pirates / New York Yankees

Age: 63 years old

Best Season: 1971 he went 19-9/3.06/1.19 and was 4th in Cy Young voting with an All Star Appearance.

Set it’s from: 2004 Upper Deck Yankee Classics

How obtained: eBay auction

Why this Card?: I wanted an autographed card of the pitcher who threw a no-hitter on acid.  What blew me away is the description of what it was like to throw on acid:

Dock to Lysergic World, 1993:

I was zeroed in on the (catcher’s) glove, but I didn’t hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times. The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn’t. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder. They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn’t hit hard and never reached me.”

How great is that?  Now I have tried some acid myself in my younger years and can tell you, I have no idea as to how the hell he could zone in on anything.  It’s like putting a teenage boy in a dressing room with ten strippers and telling him to look at the bench in the corner.  It just can’t be done.

But What About the Set?: 2004 Upper Deck Yankee Classic set is a cool set especially if you are a Yankee fan.  The boxes run about $125 on eBay and you are guaranteed 1 mini wool Yankees pennant and three autographed retired Yankees cards.

Beckett’s Value: $8.00

eBay Value: I bought it for $0.99