Monday art house: "Dock Ellis & the LSD No-No"

For years after pitching a no-hitter in 1970, Pittsburgh Pirate Dock Ellis swore up and down that he'd been "high as a Georgia pine" on LSD and bennies during the game. Filmmaker James Blagden has put together 4:30 of animated video and sound effects to accompany an interview recorded for American Public Media:



"One time I covered first base, and I caught the ball and I tagged the base, all in one motion. I said, 'Ooh, I just made a touchdown!'"

But seriously, folks:

It was easier to pitch with the LSD, because I was so used to medicating myself. That's the way I was dealing with the fear of failure: the fear of losing, the fear of winning. It's just that it was part of the game, you know? You get to the major leagues, and you say, 'I got to stay here, what do I need?'"

A substance abuse counselor after leaving baseball ("I hope to make these young players aware of the stress involved in being a professional baseball player and drive home the point that drug and alcohol abuse is not the way to relieve that stress"), Ellis died in 2008 of irreversible liver disease.