Dock Ellis

Dock Phillip Ellis Jr. (March 11, 1945 – December 19, 2008) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as a right-handed pitcher from through , most notably as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates teams that won five National League Eastern Division titles in six years between and and won the World Series in . Ellis also played for the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers and New York Mets. In his MLB career, Ellis accumulated a record, a 3.46 earned run average, and 1,136 strikeouts.

Ellis threw a no-hitter on June 12, 1970, and later stated that he accomplished the feat under the influence of }} Ellis was the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star Game in 1971. Joining the Yankees in 1976, he helped lead the team to the American League pennant, and was named the Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award.

Ellis was an outspoken advocate for the rights of players and African Americans.

He had a substance abuse problem, and acknowledged after his retirement that he had never pitched without the use of drugs. After going into treatment, Ellis remained sober and devoted the remainder of his life to counseling others with substance use disorder in treatment centers and prisons. He died of a liver ailment at age 63 in 2008. Provided by Wikipedia