After a cat nap, Ellis thought it was still Thursday and that he had a full day to recover before the Friday game in San Diego, so he decided to drop another hit of acid at about 12:00 noon.

Ellis pitched his final game in 1979, finishing his career with a 138-119 record with a 3.46 ERA, 1.288 WHIP, and 1,136 strikeouts. Throughout his 12 seasons split between the Pittsburgh Pirates ...

Fifty years ago this week, Ellis, who was black, pitched a no-hitter while, he says, he was high on LSD, a hallucinogenic drug also known as acid.

In the 1971 Midsummer Classic, the Pittsburgh Pirates' Dock Ellis squared off against Vida Blue of the Oakland Athletics. The game was the first time two black pitchers started an All-Star Game.

Six hours before the game, Ellis was in Los Angeles. He had no idea he was supposed to be on the mound that night in San Diego to face a Padres team that would go on to lose 99 games.

“Dock Ellis leads National League pitchers with 14 victories,” the Associated Press wrote on July 7, 1971, “but he says there are two reasons he probably won’t start in the All-Star Game. 1.