I'm as high as a Georgia pine.

September 12, 2012 9:41 AM

The Long, Strange Trip of Dock Ellis. ESPN's Outside the Lines has created a digital reading experience worthy of its subject matter.

An inspiration for Barbara Manning, a collaborator with US Poet Laureate Donald Hall, Dock Ellis was best known for pitching a June 12, 1970 no-hitter while under the influence of LSD.

Despite having a long professional baseball career, Ellis struggled with addiction and later devoted his life to drug counseling. He died in 2008.

(Bonus: Amazing animated dramatization.)

Previously on the blue.

posted by whimsicalnymph (18 comments total)

Oh here's my Dock obit (and good ensuing thread).
posted by item at 9:50 AM on September 12, 2012

I think I learned of his no-hitter from this everything2 node.
posted by knile at 9:52 AM on September 12, 2012

This is awesome and the first time I've seen a layout like this actually work. I can't wait to get home and read it.

Meanwhile, this'll save me an Ask question: does anyone have an idea as to how to get a recording of that game?

Oh! And a Kickstarter to make a documentary about it was also funded with $38K.
posted by griphus at 9:54 AM on September 12, 2012

My favorite Dock Ellis tribute, courtesy of Mr. Todd Snider.

"His sinker looked like it was fallin' off a table,
But nobody was hallucinatin' that."
posted by swordthrower at 10:03 AM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

This is cool and clearly ESPN's graphic designers have been scoping out (or been hired out of) EEphus League Magazine.
posted by chavenet at 10:11 AM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

Nice! Usually when people try to be innovative with layouts it doesn't turn out this well. The two sides scrolling at different rates, the embedded video, and the across-the-page sections use the capabilities of a screen well, so that it isn't just a magazine copied into a digital format.

I look forward to reading it.
posted by Killick at 10:12 AM on September 12, 2012

Eephus on the blue. Which credits Edits Quarterly for the style.

All of which would be better on LSD, just like Twitter.
posted by chavenet at 10:14 AM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

Really really impressive layout. The Dock Ellis story is such an interesting one too. Two thumbs up (and I haven't even read it yet).
posted by mcstayinskool at 10:27 AM on September 12, 2012

That was outstanding. The Dock Ellis story is not new to me, but this was well written and had lots of new information. The layout was interesting and really added to the content. Thanks for sharing 8)
posted by oshburghor at 10:51 AM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

I, uh. I want to make a 'zine for the first time since my teenage years now. Because I feel like I'm wasting my time as a web developer if I'm not making things like that, where you just use the best technology for the best design, and say "screw supporting old browsers, they don't get to come along this time."
posted by jason_steakums at 11:00 AM on September 12, 2012

I always hate attempts at clever web layouts, but this one is beautiful. This is how it should be done.
posted by snottydick at 12:38 PM on September 12, 2012

I don't know how I managed to make it through a baseball-obsessed childhood without knowing of Dock Ellis. Thank you for this.
posted by something something at 2:49 PM on September 12, 2012

The Electric Dock Ellis Acid Test: An Attempt To Recreate His Drug-Addled No-Hitter, On Xbox
posted by homunculus at 4:52 PM on September 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

He's also the subject of a sure-to-be-awesome documentary, which I backed on Kickstarter. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iconoclasts/no-no-a-dockumentary-about-dock-ellis
posted by old_growler at 5:46 PM on September 12, 2012

@griphus: According to the Kickstarter guys making the movie (which I saw you posted about after I scrolled to the bottom and posted about it), there is no existing video of the game.

Also, this. This is so great: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vUhSYLRw14
posted by old_growler at 5:50 PM on September 12, 2012

last uh Saturday nite at Safeco, A's at M's, I saw a middleaged guy in the good seats wearing a black A's jersey numbered 14 and blazoned Ellis. I liked that.
posted by mwhybark at 9:57 PM on September 12, 2012

Amused at that little mention of Timothy Leary playing softball while tripping. Not really as hard as it sounds, just sayin. Dock Ellis was amazing.
posted by e1c at 12:41 PM on September 13, 2012

playing softball while tripping. Not really as hard as it sounds, just sayin.

You must not be getting good shit.
posted by snottydick at 1:12 PM on September 13, 2012