When it comes to baseball history, there are moments that resonate far beyond the diamond. One such moment is Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis's no-hitter on June 12, 1970. What makes this particular no-hitter memorable, however, is not just the statistical rarity of the achievement but also the defiant, unorthodox, and controversial way in which it was achieved.

Ellis would throw the no-hitter under the influence of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD); an important fact that wasn't identified until years after the game had taken place.

Now, before we get into the nitty, gritty details of this truly bizarre game, we would like to state that we do not condone the use of any illegal drugs. Ellis admitted to his substance abuse problem after his retirement. And after treatment, he maintained sobriety and devoted the rest of his life to counseling those with substance use disorder.

The History of Dock Ellis' No-Hitter:

On June 12, 1970, Dock Ellis threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. Now, LSD is not considered to be performance-enhancing by the MLB, and many are impressed at Ellis's athletic feat while on the psychedelic. Apparently, the pitcher's perception of the ball would shrink and grow throughout the game. The Pirates catcher also put reflective tape on his fingers, so Ellis could see the signs.

According to Ellis in 1984, when asked to recount his LSD-fueled no-hitter, "I started having a crazy idea in the fourth inning that Richard Nixon was the home plate umpire, and once I thought I was pitching a baseball to Jimi Hendrix, who to me was holding a guitar and swinging it over the plate. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn't hit hard and never reached me."

At the end of the day, Ellis himself regretted taking the substance, as he believed that it "robbed him of his greatest professional memory."

So how did this come to happen? Well, Dock Ellis was spending some time with friends in Los Angeles. Perhaps through the good times, Ellis lost track of what day it was! Just after taking a dosage of LSD, his friend told him that he was pitching that day. Ellis got to San Diego 90 minutes before game time, fully affected by the LSD. Little did he know, he was about to pitch the one and only no-hitter in his career.

In 1989, Ellis and poet Donald Hall wrote Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball, a look at the game from Ellis' own words.

In addition, a documentary came out in 2014 called No No: A Dockumentary details the infamous no-hitter. The synopsis reads, "In the 1970s Dock Ellis pitched a baseball no-hitter on LSD and his outspoken style courted conflict and controversy. Dock spent his latter years helping others in their addictions. A surprising and moving story of a life in and out of the spotlight."

Ellis' performance is still talked about today. Of all the 300+ no-hitters in MLB history, this one goes down as the most shocking (yet impressive!). There's not much footage of the game out there, but the legend lives on!

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