Trouble ahead, trouble behind...

Have you ever dropped acid? Have you ever pitched a Major League no-hitter? Dock Ellis did both at the same time. He claims that while he was pitching, he couldn’t really feel the ball (or was it a rainbow egg?!) in his hand (or was it his foot?!) Luckily, he was able to make out his catcher through the haze. And he was saved by some terrific fielding from 2B Bill Mazeroski (or was it a Unicorn?!)

Somehow, for reasons that are unclear to me, Dock Ellis has not been elected to the baseball hall of fame. You tell me Bruce Sutter belongs, but not Dock? Let’s compare: baseball demi-god Bill James designed four tests to measure a player’s worthiness for induction to the Hall of Fame. Black Ink, Grey Ink, Hall of Fame Career Standards and Hall of Fame Monitor (the methodologies are explained here.) The only test in which Bruce Sutter comes near the standard for HOF induction is the Monitor. In two other metrics, Bruce Sutter and Dock Ellis are neraly tied.

What does it prove? I admit, it doesn’t seal the case for Dock’s induction, not even close. But it proves that pitchers can be voted into the hall of fame even if there isn’t overwhelming statistical and journalistic consensus that he belongs. (Sutter made it with 77% on his 13th year of eligibility). It also proves that Dock Ellis, despite not being a dominant force, was clearly a very good pitcher. (By far the best on Pittsburgh’s 1971 World Series team). How could you assign a value to something like a no-hitter on acid? The statistics in HOF monitor that tend to reflect belonging to a good team at a given time, like wins in a season, playoff wins etc have lower weighted values. Ones that reflect indisputable individual skill, like 300 career wins, or 1000 games are worth upwards of 30 points. No other pitcher has done what Ellis did; it is clearly a feat of superhuman concentration and ballsiness. When I’m high, I can barely write my name on a piece of paper or tie my shoes.

So let’s say we gave the guy an extra 30 points for being in a category of talent to which only four or five other pitchers could plausibly ascend. I’ll say, maybe Tom Glavine, Tom Seaver, Warren Spahn and maybe two others with perfect command and disposition. Nolan Ryan, or Roger Clemens, or Bob Gibson on LSD? Forget it.

So let’s say we add 30 points to Dock’s HOF Monitor score. That gives us… 48 out of 100 points (the avergae for a likely HOF’er).

Shit.

Whatever, he’s still a legend.