Dock Ellis and the New World Order

I hadn't planned any blog entries for the next little bit. Holidays, traveling, etc.
But former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis died yesterday from a long-term liver ailment. He was 63.

Somewhere around 18 years ago, on an assignment for Esquire magazine, I spent a little more than a week with Dock, first in Los Angeles where he was living with his mother, then in Fort Lauderdale during the delayed opening of the Yankees' spring training.

Esquire changed editors soon after I returned. I was paid a kill fee and then many, many years later Chin Music published this piece for the first time. Then it later appeared as a chapter in the Starting Pitcher book.

I'm very sad to see Dock go. He was a good man and, to my mind, controversial only because of his enduring desire to be understood.

Rest in peace, Dock Ellis. You will be missed.


* * *


In Los Angeles, Dock Ellis and I stop at a Fatburger. Dock is a baseball original, a former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher best known for throwing a no-hitter on acid. This Fatburger, though, is not the original, Dock tells me. Dock is just back on red meat after his mother replaced turkey with ground round in his tacos.
“After you've been off the stuff for a while, you can smell it," Dock says. He offers the expression of a child who's just tasted liver for the first time. After one bite of the cheeseburger before him, Dock loudly hails the attention of the Asian cook behind the counter.
"Hey man, this is not a Fatburger."
"Yes," the cook replies. "This is a Fatburger."
"Bullshit," says Dock. "You may have that Fatburger sign up there but I've eaten Fatburgers and this is not a Fatburger burger."
"We use fresh meat patties," the cook protests.
"I'm not saying anything about your fresh meat patties. All I'm saying is that this is not a Fatburger burger."
The cook and Dock turn to face other business. "See, I understand what he's saying but he don't understand what I'm saying," Dock tells me.
This Asian grillman in a franchised Fatburger has no idea how much he and the institution of baseball have in common.



I deleted the rest of this piece on Thursday, August 23, 2012.
Thanks for dropping by.