A SET THAT NEVER WAS: 1971 ALL-STAR TICKET SET: DOCK ELLIS

On the blog today, we come to my "card that never was" for 1971 N.L. All-Star Game starter Dock Ellis, from my custom ticket set that was never released, but know looks like will see the light of day some time in 2025:

Ellis was on his way to his best year as a Big League pitcher in 1971, and with that was given the honor of starting what turned out to be one of the historic All-Star game in baseball history, featuring somewhat of a transition of the "old" classic baseball of the 1950's and 1960's with stars like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente, while also showcasing young up and coming superstars of the new age like Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson and Rod Carew.

By the time 1971 ended Ellis finished with a very nice 19-9 record for the eventual World Champions, sporting an earned run average of 3.06 over 31 starts, with 11 complete games and two shutouts, tossing a career-best 226.2 innings.

Those numbers would get him a fourth place finish in the Cy Young Award race in November, with Chicago Cubs great Fergie Jenkins winning it based on his league-leading 24 wins.

Of course, we would be terribly negligent here without also mentioning that Ellis was the pitcher who served up the classic bomb hit by Reggie Jackson in the All-Star game that almost cleared the ballpark, a moment that marked somewhat of the arrival of the man who would go on to be nicknamed "Mr. October" and become a household name across the country by decade's end.

Nevertheless, Ellis would go on to pitch 12 years in the Majors, finishing up after the 1979 season, posting a final record of 138-119 over 345 games, 317 of them as a starter, tossing 14 shutouts and striking out 1136.

 

OPC IMAGE VARIATIONS: 1977 DOCK ELLIS

Good day everyone!

Up on the blog today, we take a look at the images variation between Dock Ellis' Topps and OPC cards from 1977:

OPC version

Topps version

Nothing really too earth-shattering here, with the Topps image much nice in my humble opinion, showing the iconic starter posed at the Stadium rather than some Spring Training shot.

Ellis has one full season with the New York Yankees, posting a very fine season in 1976 and helping them make the World Series for the first time in 12 years before losing to the "Big Red Machine" Cincinnati Reds.

He posted a record of 17-8 over 32 starts with a 3.19 ERA, tossing 211.2 innings while completing five and throwing one shutout.

By the time he left the game after the 1979 season, Ellis would post a final record of 138-119 over 345 games, 317 of them as a starter, tossing 14 shutouts and striking out 1136, while famously throwing a no-hitter in 1970 allegedly while tripping on LSD, and also starting the 1971 All-Star game, giving up the towering home run to Reggie Jackson that struck a light tower at Tigers' Stadium.

Eventful career to say the least!

1972 ALL-STAR SUB-SET: DOCK ELLIS

Really fun card to add to the blog AND my on-going 1972 All-Star "missing" sub-set today, a card for the National League's starting pitcher in the 1971 Midsummer Classic, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis:

 

Ellis was on his way to his best year as a Big League pitcher in 1971, and with that was given the honor of starting what turned out to be one of the historic All-Star game in baseball history, featuring somewhat of a transition of the "old" classic baseball of the 1950's and 1960's with stars like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente, while also showcasing young up and coming superstars of the new age like Johnny Bench, Reggie Jackson and Rod Carew.

By the time 1971 ended Ellis finished with a very nice 19-9 record for the eventual World Champions, sporting an earned run average of 3.06 over 31 starts, with 11 complete games and two shutouts, tossing a career-best 226.2 innings.

Those numbers would get him a fourth place finish in the Cy Young Award race in November, with Chicago Cubs great Fergie Jenkins winning it based on his league-leading 24 wins.

Of course, we would be terribly negligent here without also mentioning that Ellis was the pitcher who served up the classic bomb hit by Reggie Jackson in the All-Star game that almost cleared the ballpark, a moment that marked somewhat of the arrival of the man who would go on to be nicknamed "Mr. October" and become a household name across the country by decade's end.

Nevertheless, Ellis would go on to pitch 12 years in the Majors, finishing up after the 1979 season, posting a final record of 138-119 over 345 games, 317 of them as a starter, tossing 14 shutouts and striking out 1136.

NO-HITTERS SPECIAL SUB-SET: DOCK ELLIS, JUNE 12TH 1970

The next no-hitter featured in my new thread of gems through the decade is none other than that (in)famous no-no pitched by former Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis, who supposedly threw this one while under the influence of LSD against the San Diego Padres on June 12th or 1970:

Now, whether or not he actually threw the no-hitter while “tripping” is something some believe to be false, while I tend to think is true.
Nevertheless, if you haven’t yet PLEASE watch the documentary “No-No”, which is not only an incredible work on the man himself, but gives some stark insight into the game at the dawn of the “wild-70’s”.
Now, as for the game itself, Ellis took the mound for a Pirates team who were at .500 with a 29-29 record, against the second-year San Diego Padres, who were on their way to another loooong Summer, and understandably so.
Ellis was 4-4 at the time, and side-story notwithstanding, went on to walk eight batters while fanning six, and was helped by Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, who clubbed two solo homers off Padres starter Dave Roberts, who pitched a really nice game himself.
By the time the game was over 2 hours and 13 minutes later, Ellis made history with the no-hitter, and of course into sports folklore with the assertion that he did so while on LSD because of he “forgot what day it was” until someone reminded him he was pitching later that evening.
Did it actually happen? Who knows. There are strong opinions on either side of the story from people close to the organization at the time.
But man does it make a great story! Especially as a symbol of that era!
I love me my 1970’s baseball, and this kicks off that decade nicely...

THE MISSING ALL STAR CARDS: 1972 TOPPS: NATIONAL LEAGUE

Today we have the National League all stars for the 1972 Topps set, as voted by the fans for the '71 game in Detroit. That is, if Topps would have gone ahead and designated all stars as they did later in the decade.
For the N.L. players, I gave a green bar across the bottom, as opposed to the red bar I gave the A.L. players (posted yesterday).
While the bulk of the N.L. was represented  by all star stalwarts like Aaron, Mays and Bench, we do have a couple of players who were starters for only a single all star game: Dock Ellis and Buddy Harrelson.
Of course we all know Ellis was the pitcher who gave up Reggie Jackson's mammoth blast in the bottom of the Third Inning, taking the loss as the American League won their first Mis-Summer Classic since 1962, 6-4.