On June 12, 1970, twenty‑five-year-old Dock Ellis pitched a complete‑game no‑hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates - while under the influence of LSD.

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Two days prior, the team flew to San Diego for a series against the Padres. Ellis rented a car and drove home to Los Angeles to see his girlfriend, Mitzi, and his childhood friend Al Rambo. The next twelve hours dissolved into conversation, alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, and eventually sleep. When Ellis woke sometime after noon, he took a dose of Purple Haze acid, believing it was his day off.

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Ellis often used LSD during off days, retreating to a basement room he called “The Dungeon,” where he would listen to Jimi Hendrix or Iron Butterfly. That afternoon, Mitzi glanced at the newspaper and realized Ellis was scheduled to pitch that evening.

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“You slept through Thursday,” she told him. It was Friday

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Ellis rushed to the airport and arrived in San Diego just in time for the game. He swallowed some amphetamines and took to the mound. His first pitch bounced two feet in front of the plate

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Later, Ellis recalled a sense of euphoria, the strike zone shifting shape, the baseball expanding and shrinking, the catcher appearing and vanishing. He hit batters, loaded the bases multiple times, and narrowly avoided balls he believed were line drives but weren’t hit hard and never even reached him. He chewed his gum into powder.

 

Somehow, through chaos and hallucinations, Dock recorded twenty‑seven outs without surrendering a hit. “I pitched a No No” he said.