Moment #100: Dock Ellis throws no-hitter on LSD | MLB's ALL-TIME MOMENTS

This MLB offseason, we are starting a countdown of the 100 greatest moments in baseball history. These moments helped make the game what it is today. They all had an impact in the short or long term and endure to this day in the hearts and minds of baseball fans everywhere. We start with #100: Dock Ellis' no-hitter thrown while tripping on acid.

When Pittsburgh Pirates hurler Dock Ellis took the mound on June 12, 1970 at San Diego Stadium to take on the Padres, 173 pitchers had completed no hitters. None of them had done so while on acid. Ellis, though, under the influence of LSD, threw up goose egg after goose egg against the Padres despite tripping on a psychedelic drug.

Make no mistake about it; Ellis' game wasn't pretty. He walked eight batters and plunked another one, but stayed in the game to try for history. This wildness was not uncommon for Ellis who entered June 12 with a 4-4 record and an average of nearly 3.5 free passes per game.

Despite not giving up a single hit, Ellis faced batters with runners in scoring position in four of his nine innings and didn't allow a run to score. It's a good thing for Pittsburgh he didn't, because they only scratched across two runs for a 2-0 victory.

In a retelling of Ellis' story bySports Illustrated, the Pirates' pitcher was in Los Angeles doing drugs with a friend and partied so much that he forgot what day it was. This set a strange series of events in motion that ended with him striking out Ed Spiezio to complete MLB's 174th no hitter.

Ellis' story continues to say he got his days mixed up, because of his drug-riddled frenzy the night before. He thought he was scheduled to pitch the following day, June 13. However, he was scheduled to pitch the 6:00 p.m. game that night. Had Ellis known this, perhaps he wouldn't have taken another hit of acid at noon. By 2:00 p.m., Ellis was made aware he was to pitch that night.

Somehow, after finding out four hours before first pitch that he would be starting that night, Ellis was able to get to the ballpark an hour and a half before he was to throw his first pitch. In comments he made in 1984, the first time he mentioned he was on acid during the no hitter, Ellis recounts not being able to feel himself throw the ball. He claimed at one point in the fourth inning, he thought Richard Nixon was the home plate umpire.

It must have been a rough night for Ellis, who had to sit through a second game after throwing his no hitter, which was just the first game of a doubleheader. Coming down off the adrenaline of making baseball history as well as whatever other drugs were in his system must have done a number on him.

The impact Ellis' no hitter had on baseball history is a small, but significant one. If he did, in fact, throw a no hitter on LSD, that adds a wrinkle to one of baseball's most coveted achievements. The most important question we should be asking, though, is did he really throw the no hitter on acid?

There will never be a way to prove this as Ellis died in 2008 and never told anyone anything to the contrary during his life. But using some common sense, we can attempt to uncover the truth in this case. Just the fact it is debatable makes it significant to the history of baseball. Think about other relatively minor events in history that grew bigger, because of the controversy involved. George Brett's Pine Tar Game is one that probably instantly comes to mind and is one that will be touched on later in this book.

More than likely, Ellis' re-telling of his no hitter is like an old fishing story that gets better and more interesting with time. "No really, the fish was THIS big."

First of all, Ellis waited for 14 years to tell his story. He pitched the no hitter in just his third major league season, so it's reasonable he didn't want the story to get out during his playing career, but he retired in 1979, five years before he told the public about his LSD no hitter.

As many critics also point out, you must take a higher dosage of LSD the day after dropping acid in order for it to have an effect. According to Ellis, he took half a hit of LSD on the second day, which shouldn't have had much of an effect on him, especially since he was running on very little sleep.

A combination of other drugs to help him focus, which he and other players allegedly took regularly could have contributed to his feeling of numbness and bodily sensations. However, when looking back on that day, Ellis may have exaggerated those in his head. Plus, for someone five years out of baseball, that makes a pretty juicy story and gets you back in the headlines. After all, we are still talking about it almost 50 years later.

Whether Ellis pitched the game and truly felt the effects as he said or simply felt some sensory effect due to a combination of drugs is up for debate. Unfortunately, that debate is unlikely to ever provide a concrete answer. Those are the types of baseball debates that are so fun, though, and 50 years from now, people might still be arguing about it like they'll still be arguing about Babe Ruth calling his shot.

If Ellis did exaggerate his experience of throwing a no hitter on LSD it may have backfired on him, because that one single game has overshadowed the rest of his career and life. That's exactly why there is reason to believe his story. He later came to regret the act of pitching while on LSD, but not in telling the story.

In a story published by ESPN, Ellis' fourth wife Hjordis said, "It was pretty painful for him. It was like something he wished would go away."

Ellis had an alcohol and drug abuse problem his whole career, whether it be drinking, doing LSD and other drugs or amphetamines (also known as "greenies" in MLB locker rooms) and he made it clear he was ashamed about that after his career had ended. AsRolling Stonepoints out, he made it a point to help other people overcome their substance-abuse addictions. He did this after entering treatment himself following his playing career. He became sober in 1980, but the damage was already done.

Ellis died in 2008 from cirrhosis of the liver after staying away from alcohol for 28 years.

What shouldn't be forgotten about his career is that he was a player who spoke his mind. Athletes nowadays do that all the time and use their platform to bring about change, but Ellis did this as a black athlete at a time when racial tension was a tipping point and speaking your mind was not viewed positively.

His greatest contributions to the world came through his racial activism as a player and his addiction-based activism after his career came to an end. However, his greatest contribution to baseball lore came on June 12, 1970 when he may have thrown baseball's only known LSD-powered no hitter.