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Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball
One of America's finest poets joins forces with one of baseball's most outrageous pitchers to paint a revealing portrait of our national game. Donald Hall's forceful, yet elegant, prose brings together all the elements of Dock Ellis's story into a seamless whole. The two of them, the pitcher and the poet, give us remarkable insight into the customs and culture of this closed clannish world. Dock's keen vision, filtered through Hall's extraordinary voice, shows us the hardships and problems of the thinking athlete in an unthinking world.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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About the author
Donald Hall
180 books201 followersDonald Hall was considered one of the major American poets of his generation.
His poetry explores the longing for a more bucolic past and reflects the poet’s abiding reverence for nature. Although Hall gained early success with his first collection, Exiles and Marriages (1955), his later poetry is generally regarded as the best of his career. Often compared favorably with such writers as James Dickey, Robert Bly, and James Wright, Hall used simple, direct language to evoke surrealistic imagery. In addition to his poetry, Hall built a respected body of prose that includes essays, short fiction, plays, and children’s books. Hall, who lived on the New Hampshire farm he visited in summers as a boy, was also noted for the anthologies he has edited and is a popular teacher, speaker, and reader of his own poems.
Born in 1928, Hall grew up in Hamden, Connecticut. The Hall household was marked by a volatile father and a mother who was “steadier, maybe with more access to depths because there was less continual surface,” as Hall explained in an essay for Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series (CAAS). “To her I owe my fires, to my father my tears. I owe them both for their reading.” By age twelve, Hall had discovered the poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe: “I read Poe and my life changed,” he remarked in CAAS. Another strong influence in Hall’s early years was his maternal great-grandfather’s farm in New Hampshire, where he spent many summers. Decades later, he bought the same farm and settled there as a full-time writer and poet.
Hall attended Philips Exeter Academy and had his first poem published at age 16. He was a participant at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, where he met Robert Frost, that same year. From Exeter, Hall went to Harvard University, attending class alongside Adrienne Rich, Robert Bly, Frank O’Hara, and John Ashbery; he also studied for a year with Archibald MacLeish. Hall earned a BLitt from Oxford University and won the Newdigate contest for his poem “Exile,” one of the few Americans ever to win the prize. Returning to the United States, Hall spent a year at Stanford, studying under the poet-critic Yvor Winters, before returning to Harvard to join the prestigious Society of Fellows. It was there that Hall assembled Exiles and Marriages, a tightly-structured collection crafted in rigid rhyme and meter. In 1953, Hall also became the poetry editor of the Paris Review, a position he held until 1961. In 1957 he took a position as assistant professor of English at the University of Michigan, where he remained until 1975. While at Michigan, Hall met the young Jane Kenyon. They later married and, when Hall’s grandmother, who owned Eagle Pond Farm, passed away, bought the farm, left teaching, and moved there together. The collections Kicking the Leaves (1978) and The Happy Man (1986) reflect Hall’s happiness at his return to the family farm, a place rich with memories and links to his past. Many of the poems explore and celebrate the continuity between generations. The Happy Man won the Lenore Marshall/Nation Prize. Hall’s next book, The One Day (1988), won the National Book Critics Circle Award. A long poem that meditates on the on-set of old age, The One Day, like much of Hall’s early work, takes shape under formal pressure: composed of 110 stanzas, split over three sections, its final sections are written in blank verse. The critic Frederick Pollack praised the book as possibly “the last masterpiece of American Modernism. Any poet who seeks to surpass this genre should study it; any reader who has lost interest in contemporary poetry should read it.” Old and New Poems (1990) contains several traditional poems from earlier collections, as well as more innovative verses not previously published. “Baseball,” included in The Museum of Clear Ideas (1993), is the poet’s ode to the great American pastime and is structured around t
His poetry explores the longing for a more bucolic past and reflects the poet’s abiding reverence for nature. Although Hall gained early success with his first collection, Exiles and Marriages (1955), his later poetry is generally regarded as the best of his career. Often compared favorably with such writers as James Dickey, Robert Bly, and James Wright, Hall used simple, direct language to evoke surrealistic imagery. In addition to his poetry, Hall built a respected body of prose that includes essays, short fiction, plays, and children’s books. Hall, who lived on the New Hampshire farm he visited in summers as a boy, was also noted for the anthologies he has edited and is a popular teacher, speaker, and reader of his own poems.
Born in 1928, Hall grew up in Hamden, Connecticut. The Hall household was marked by a volatile father and a mother who was “steadier, maybe with more access to depths because there was less continual surface,” as Hall explained in an essay for Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series (CAAS). “To her I owe my fires, to my father my tears. I owe them both for their reading.” By age twelve, Hall had discovered the poet and short story writer Edgar Allan Poe: “I read Poe and my life changed,” he remarked in CAAS. Another strong influence in Hall’s early years was his maternal great-grandfather’s farm in New Hampshire, where he spent many summers. Decades later, he bought the same farm and settled there as a full-time writer and poet.
Hall attended Philips Exeter Academy and had his first poem published at age 16. He was a participant at the prestigious Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, where he met Robert Frost, that same year. From Exeter, Hall went to Harvard University, attending class alongside Adrienne Rich, Robert Bly, Frank O’Hara, and John Ashbery; he also studied for a year with Archibald MacLeish. Hall earned a BLitt from Oxford University and won the Newdigate contest for his poem “Exile,” one of the few Americans ever to win the prize. Returning to the United States, Hall spent a year at Stanford, studying under the poet-critic Yvor Winters, before returning to Harvard to join the prestigious Society of Fellows. It was there that Hall assembled Exiles and Marriages, a tightly-structured collection crafted in rigid rhyme and meter. In 1953, Hall also became the poetry editor of the Paris Review, a position he held until 1961. In 1957 he took a position as assistant professor of English at the University of Michigan, where he remained until 1975. While at Michigan, Hall met the young Jane Kenyon. They later married and, when Hall’s grandmother, who owned Eagle Pond Farm, passed away, bought the farm, left teaching, and moved there together. The collections Kicking the Leaves (1978) and The Happy Man (1986) reflect Hall’s happiness at his return to the family farm, a place rich with memories and links to his past. Many of the poems explore and celebrate the continuity between generations. The Happy Man won the Lenore Marshall/Nation Prize. Hall’s next book, The One Day (1988), won the National Book Critics Circle Award. A long poem that meditates on the on-set of old age, The One Day, like much of Hall’s early work, takes shape under formal pressure: composed of 110 stanzas, split over three sections, its final sections are written in blank verse. The critic Frederick Pollack praised the book as possibly “the last masterpiece of American Modernism. Any poet who seeks to surpass this genre should study it; any reader who has lost interest in contemporary poetry should read it.” Old and New Poems (1990) contains several traditional poems from earlier collections, as well as more innovative verses not previously published. “Baseball,” included in The Museum of Clear Ideas (1993), is the poet’s ode to the great American pastime and is structured around t
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
January 30, 2024
”Baseball is a country all to itself…Seasons and teams shift, blur into each other, change radically or appear to change, and restore themselves to old ways again. Citizens retire to farms, in the country of baseball, smoke cigars and reminisce, and all at once they are young players again, lean and intense running the base paths with filed spikes. Kids playing stickball change into fierce adults rounding third base in front of fifty thousand people, and change again into old men in their undershirts on front stoops.”
This is a book I wanted to LOVE. It’s a baseball book. It’s a biography of one of baseball’s most interesting and outrageous characters. He played on the first team that made me fall in love with baseball — the 1970s era Pittsburgh Pirates. And it’s written by a great poet laureate who loved baseball and waxed lyrical about the game. With all that going for it, I expected a grand slam of a book. What I got instead was a ground rule double with nobody on base.
Perhaps Dock Ellis wasn’t the best subject for Donald Hall to take on. Hall falls into the category of erudite men writing lyrically about baseball (something I usually enjoy). Ellis was brash, sometimes outrageous, often raw (characteristics that made him so interesting). Dock’s antics — pitching a no-no on LSD, throwing at four Cincinnati Reds in a row (successfully beaning three of them), appearing in the dugout in curlers — just don’t come across with the edge you expect in this book. In some cases, Hall purposely toned them down, as when he substituted vodka for LSD in the famous no hitter (something that is far more unbelievable, considering how alcohol affects motor skills). And while Dock wasn’t overtly political, he was definitely one of the brash, young Black men who loudly confronted the racism which was still prevalent in both baseball and the sports press at that time. Hall was unsuccessful in capturing this aspect of Ellis as well. What he delivered instead is a lyrically written portrait with many of the rough edges rounded off.
Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball isn’t a bad book — it has its virtues. And after all, a bases empty ground rule double isn’t nothing. But it’s also not a game winning grand slam.
This is a book I wanted to LOVE. It’s a baseball book. It’s a biography of one of baseball’s most interesting and outrageous characters. He played on the first team that made me fall in love with baseball — the 1970s era Pittsburgh Pirates. And it’s written by a great poet laureate who loved baseball and waxed lyrical about the game. With all that going for it, I expected a grand slam of a book. What I got instead was a ground rule double with nobody on base.
Perhaps Dock Ellis wasn’t the best subject for Donald Hall to take on. Hall falls into the category of erudite men writing lyrically about baseball (something I usually enjoy). Ellis was brash, sometimes outrageous, often raw (characteristics that made him so interesting). Dock’s antics — pitching a no-no on LSD, throwing at four Cincinnati Reds in a row (successfully beaning three of them), appearing in the dugout in curlers — just don’t come across with the edge you expect in this book. In some cases, Hall purposely toned them down, as when he substituted vodka for LSD in the famous no hitter (something that is far more unbelievable, considering how alcohol affects motor skills). And while Dock wasn’t overtly political, he was definitely one of the brash, young Black men who loudly confronted the racism which was still prevalent in both baseball and the sports press at that time. Hall was unsuccessful in capturing this aspect of Ellis as well. What he delivered instead is a lyrically written portrait with many of the rough edges rounded off.
Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball isn’t a bad book — it has its virtues. And after all, a bases empty ground rule double isn’t nothing. But it’s also not a game winning grand slam.
January 20, 2015
Baseball is life. Or as Donald Hall describes it: "Baseball is a country all to itself."
Hall is a great New Hampshire poet and Red Sox fan. In the 1970s, he decided to write a book about baseball by being granted time with the Pittsburgh Pirates. There he met Dock Ellis and a friendship ensued.
Most poets make very little money. Hall spoke at colleges for money. A college will pay him $1,000 to speak, but the library cannot afford to buy his book.
This book is about the life of Dock Ellis, race relations, and behind the scenes of a baseball team.
Dock pitched his no-hitter high on LSD.
When I spoke to Mr. Hall, he recommended a documentary to me: "No-No: A Dockumentary." Here is a link: http://www.nonoadockumentary.com/. It can be viewed on You Tube.
Hall is a great New Hampshire poet and Red Sox fan. In the 1970s, he decided to write a book about baseball by being granted time with the Pittsburgh Pirates. There he met Dock Ellis and a friendship ensued.
Most poets make very little money. Hall spoke at colleges for money. A college will pay him $1,000 to speak, but the library cannot afford to buy his book.
This book is about the life of Dock Ellis, race relations, and behind the scenes of a baseball team.
Dock pitched his no-hitter high on LSD.
When I spoke to Mr. Hall, he recommended a documentary to me: "No-No: A Dockumentary." Here is a link: http://www.nonoadockumentary.com/. It can be viewed on You Tube.
July 7, 2022
A combination gonzo biography-slash-memoir of a truly fascinating character, Pirates pitcher Dock Ellis. Donald Hall brings his poetic sensibilities to the prose here, and it really makes some of the more esoteric baseball talk go down smoother than it might otherwise. The writer's obvious affection for his subject, and Ellis's natural charisma, both come through the page. Dock was as compelling a man as baseball has ever produced, and there was a lot more to his career and his life than just the infamous LSD no-no. He was a hero, for sure, and you should check him out. This book is an excellent place to start. (As a side note, this book has made me really want to watch a baseball game!)
April 13, 2013
As a life-long Pittsburgh Pirates fan, I enjoyed Hall's book for its picture of one of the most entertaining teams in major league history: the free-spirited Bucs of the 1970s, a.k.a. "The Family." The team won two World Series championships--1971 and 1979--and in many ways embodied the breakthrough of black players into full citizenship in what Hall calls "the country of baseball." That breakthrough wasn't without its problems, and those are exemplified by the career of Dock Ellis, the Pirate pitcher who once hit three Cincinnati Reds (deliberately) to start a game--he was pulled after failing to hit Tony Perez with the first three attempts in the next dodgeball game--and for throwing a no-hitter on LSD. Dock spoke his mind, pitched well most of the time, did terrific community work, and managed to co-exist with his managers for seven years.
Hall, best known as a poet, spent a lot of time with Dock and clearly has a deep love for baseball. But I have to admit to being a bit disappointed with a book I'd known about but hadn't run down until it showed up on kindle. Part of the problem is that Hall's rhapsodies on the country of baseball teeter on cliche--the image doesn't really hold up over the course of 300 pages. Part of its that, while Hall is certainly aware of the centrality of race to Dock's story, he doesn't do much more than acknowledge it. Ellis both was and wasn't political--at least in the context of Black Power--and there's something fascinating to be drawn out of his experience. He had it right in most ways, but wrong in some crucial ones. Unfortunately, Hall isn't quite honest about the down side. Yes, Dock was treated ridiculously by the Pittsburgh press and that was mostly about race. But he had a real talent for concocting excuses for poor performance and he was more than a little self-indulgent in relation to sex and drugs. The book was published while many of Dock's teammates were still active, so I understand why Hall transforms Dock's LSD trip into "vodka" and why he doesn't mention the small mountains of cocaine that were part of the major league culture. But it leaves the book feeling evasive.
It was also odd that Roberto Clemente, the heart and soul of the Pirates when Dock came up, receives almost no mention prior to a chapter centered around his death. In contrast, there are thick portraits of some other Pirates, including Willie Stargell.
Glad I read it, but it's not a baseball classic.
Hall, best known as a poet, spent a lot of time with Dock and clearly has a deep love for baseball. But I have to admit to being a bit disappointed with a book I'd known about but hadn't run down until it showed up on kindle. Part of the problem is that Hall's rhapsodies on the country of baseball teeter on cliche--the image doesn't really hold up over the course of 300 pages. Part of its that, while Hall is certainly aware of the centrality of race to Dock's story, he doesn't do much more than acknowledge it. Ellis both was and wasn't political--at least in the context of Black Power--and there's something fascinating to be drawn out of his experience. He had it right in most ways, but wrong in some crucial ones. Unfortunately, Hall isn't quite honest about the down side. Yes, Dock was treated ridiculously by the Pittsburgh press and that was mostly about race. But he had a real talent for concocting excuses for poor performance and he was more than a little self-indulgent in relation to sex and drugs. The book was published while many of Dock's teammates were still active, so I understand why Hall transforms Dock's LSD trip into "vodka" and why he doesn't mention the small mountains of cocaine that were part of the major league culture. But it leaves the book feeling evasive.
It was also odd that Roberto Clemente, the heart and soul of the Pirates when Dock came up, receives almost no mention prior to a chapter centered around his death. In contrast, there are thick portraits of some other Pirates, including Willie Stargell.
Glad I read it, but it's not a baseball classic.
December 9, 2017
On December 11, 1975, Pirates' General Manager Joe Brown traded Willie Randolph, Ken Brett, and Dock Ellis to the Yankees for pitcher "Doc" Medich; as Brown's father, Joe E. Brown, might have said, "Well, nobody's perfect". True, Brown's hand was forced somewhat by Ellis' perceived "insubordination", but that has to rank as just about the worst trade in the history of bad trades.
This book, the result of many hours Donald Hall spent interviewing, tagging along with, drinking with, and interacting with Dock Ellis, is a truly vital document to anyone trying to wrap their mind around the sports culture of the '70's. It's also a brilliant read, limning a man's struggle against his inner demons, and is in a flat-footed tie with Bill Lee's memoir The Wrong Stuff for my favorite baseball book of all time.
This book, the result of many hours Donald Hall spent interviewing, tagging along with, drinking with, and interacting with Dock Ellis, is a truly vital document to anyone trying to wrap their mind around the sports culture of the '70's. It's also a brilliant read, limning a man's struggle against his inner demons, and is in a flat-footed tie with Bill Lee's memoir The Wrong Stuff for my favorite baseball book of all time.
July 9, 2019
This book tells the story of a baseball player growing up in Los Angeles in the 60's who goes on to make it to the major leagues. This does not make it remarkable. It is remarkable because it is also the story of a young black man coming of age during the Civil Rights era, who makes his living in a sport that clings defiantly to tradition, navigating a changing society using his own dignity as a north star and his flamboyant personality as his code of conduct. Written in collaboration with decorated poet Donald Hall, a lover of baseball and a student of humanity, this book comes across as part memoir, part sports tale and part societal discourse.
Ellis is perhaps most well-known, famously or infamously according to your point of view, for being the only pitcher ever to throw a no-hitter while on LSD. However impressive this feat might be in its own right, Ellis was much more than that. Hall takes us on a journey, piloted by himself with Dock as the central character, from the high school ball fields of LA, through minor league ball and finally into the majors, while stopping to chat with the friends and family who knew Dock all along the way.
I was impressed with the style of this book outright: Hall definitely writes like a poet, with a wonderful grasp of metaphor and description, encased in short vignettes throughout the book. They are sometimes brief, but never choppy. It affords a nice flow to the narrative. But he also approached the book like a true journalist; traveling back to LA, often with Dock, to talk to the family members, friends and coaches who would help form who Dock became. Then having incredible access to Dock during his playing days, hanging out at ballparks in Pittsburgh, Dock's major league city, or on the road, walking onto the (often) astro turf to chat with Dock and the other players. It was obviously a different time. Like a true journalist, Hall doesn't just cover the games; he's with Dock postgame in his hotel suites; while he visits his old coach in LA; hanging out at his Pittsburgh apartment with his girlfriend while suspended. Hall really does his leg work here, taking around five years following Dock to get the source material for the book.
One of the most impressive aspects of the work is that Hall manages to do all this without letting his narrative edge very far into hagiography. This is very common in sportswriting of the mid-20th century era, but Hall, and therefore Ellis, who helped edit the final manuscript, lets us see warts and all. I think this point lets us learn even more about who Dock Ellis was; a person who stood up for himself, spoke his mind, and recognized his mistakes.
The first edition of the book was published in 1976, which was a few years before Dock was through playing baseball. The later edition I read was published around 1986, with additional information on Dock's life after retirement. Never one to be confused with a saint, Dock had his troubles during and after his career. But he also dedicated his life following baseball, and some of his time during, to counseling youth on the dangers of drugs and crime. Dock had the name recognition to get in the door to see them, and then the experience, street cred and personality to know how to make them listen.
This story is told mainly against the backdrop of major league baseball in the 1970's, a colorful environment on which to construct a narrative. We get to witness the partying, the women, the business environment and also the camaraderie that baseball players functioned within in those days. It is a part of what made Dock who he was, and how he stayed true to himself no matter what went on around him. This is ultimately the most important theme from this book, even if the legend of the "LSD no-no" is what got me to open it in the first place.
Ellis is perhaps most well-known, famously or infamously according to your point of view, for being the only pitcher ever to throw a no-hitter while on LSD. However impressive this feat might be in its own right, Ellis was much more than that. Hall takes us on a journey, piloted by himself with Dock as the central character, from the high school ball fields of LA, through minor league ball and finally into the majors, while stopping to chat with the friends and family who knew Dock all along the way.
I was impressed with the style of this book outright: Hall definitely writes like a poet, with a wonderful grasp of metaphor and description, encased in short vignettes throughout the book. They are sometimes brief, but never choppy. It affords a nice flow to the narrative. But he also approached the book like a true journalist; traveling back to LA, often with Dock, to talk to the family members, friends and coaches who would help form who Dock became. Then having incredible access to Dock during his playing days, hanging out at ballparks in Pittsburgh, Dock's major league city, or on the road, walking onto the (often) astro turf to chat with Dock and the other players. It was obviously a different time. Like a true journalist, Hall doesn't just cover the games; he's with Dock postgame in his hotel suites; while he visits his old coach in LA; hanging out at his Pittsburgh apartment with his girlfriend while suspended. Hall really does his leg work here, taking around five years following Dock to get the source material for the book.
One of the most impressive aspects of the work is that Hall manages to do all this without letting his narrative edge very far into hagiography. This is very common in sportswriting of the mid-20th century era, but Hall, and therefore Ellis, who helped edit the final manuscript, lets us see warts and all. I think this point lets us learn even more about who Dock Ellis was; a person who stood up for himself, spoke his mind, and recognized his mistakes.
The first edition of the book was published in 1976, which was a few years before Dock was through playing baseball. The later edition I read was published around 1986, with additional information on Dock's life after retirement. Never one to be confused with a saint, Dock had his troubles during and after his career. But he also dedicated his life following baseball, and some of his time during, to counseling youth on the dangers of drugs and crime. Dock had the name recognition to get in the door to see them, and then the experience, street cred and personality to know how to make them listen.
This story is told mainly against the backdrop of major league baseball in the 1970's, a colorful environment on which to construct a narrative. We get to witness the partying, the women, the business environment and also the camaraderie that baseball players functioned within in those days. It is a part of what made Dock who he was, and how he stayed true to himself no matter what went on around him. This is ultimately the most important theme from this book, even if the legend of the "LSD no-no" is what got me to open it in the first place.
January 17, 2019
I've been on a Donald Hall kick, since reading Essays after Eighty. I haven't read any of his poetry, but re-read The Ox-Cart Man, read his children's book about Babe Ruth, and then this. Donald Hall presents a sympathetic portrait of Dock Ellis, pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1970s.
June 1, 2021
The New York Times Book Review recently pitched (pun intended) this biography as one of their favorite baseball books.
Since I love this genre, I didn’t wait long before picking it up.
I was not disappointed. The author, Donald Hall, is a poet by profession, but his writing style shows he also has the ability to craft sports journalism beautifully.
His story about Dock Ellis’ career is understated, and I mean by that Hall avoids using a lot of superlatives. He treats the subject in human terms, warts and all, but with no ax to grind.
Dock comes across as a sensitive, bright, high energy guy. He spoke his mind, and sometimes, it got him jammed up.
While he was competitive as any pitcher (he once hit three batters in a row to send an early inning message to one of his opponents), he also had tremendous heart and compassion for his teammates and respect for some of the fiercest competitors (Pete Rose and Bob Gibson come to mind).
Dock also had his share of weaknesses, which undoubtedly shortened and diminished his career.
Ultimately, Dock’s post-career days was more impactful than his time in the Majors. He had a very strong social consciousness regarding civil rights, substance abuse, and working with men in jail and beyond. I wish Hall had fleshed this phase of his life out a bit more.
Hall clearly spent a lot of time around Dock not just during his career, but also after he retired. The writer succeeds in gaining the subject’s confidence, making for a deeply moving story.
Since I love this genre, I didn’t wait long before picking it up.
I was not disappointed. The author, Donald Hall, is a poet by profession, but his writing style shows he also has the ability to craft sports journalism beautifully.
His story about Dock Ellis’ career is understated, and I mean by that Hall avoids using a lot of superlatives. He treats the subject in human terms, warts and all, but with no ax to grind.
Dock comes across as a sensitive, bright, high energy guy. He spoke his mind, and sometimes, it got him jammed up.
While he was competitive as any pitcher (he once hit three batters in a row to send an early inning message to one of his opponents), he also had tremendous heart and compassion for his teammates and respect for some of the fiercest competitors (Pete Rose and Bob Gibson come to mind).
Dock also had his share of weaknesses, which undoubtedly shortened and diminished his career.
Ultimately, Dock’s post-career days was more impactful than his time in the Majors. He had a very strong social consciousness regarding civil rights, substance abuse, and working with men in jail and beyond. I wish Hall had fleshed this phase of his life out a bit more.
Hall clearly spent a lot of time around Dock not just during his career, but also after he retired. The writer succeeds in gaining the subject’s confidence, making for a deeply moving story.
April 10, 2021
This is a different sort of baseball book about a different sort of baseball player. Dock Ellis is probably best known for pitching a no hitter under the influence of LSD, but there is so much more to him. He won 138 games with a career 3.46 ERA and posted 15 WAR over 12 big league seasons, making an All Star team and winning a World Series. He also had an infamous incident where his speech to his Pirate teammates led to a suspension. Substance abuse impacted his career and life. He also was an outspoken athlete in the 1970s, a turbulent time in both major league baseball and the US.
Its interesting that he would collaborate with award winning poet Donald Hall on a baseball memoir. Hall is able to show Dock Ellis the person as well as pitcher - Ellis took him to the neighborhood in LA where Ellis grew up. Hall provides insight into Ellis, including his wearing of curlers, an incident with the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse security and more. Hall walks us through Ellis role in helping counsel prisoners in Alleghany County, his role in the community, and his search for family on the road in MLB.
A different sort of baseball book about a different sort of player, and a worthy read.
Its interesting that he would collaborate with award winning poet Donald Hall on a baseball memoir. Hall is able to show Dock Ellis the person as well as pitcher - Ellis took him to the neighborhood in LA where Ellis grew up. Hall provides insight into Ellis, including his wearing of curlers, an incident with the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse security and more. Hall walks us through Ellis role in helping counsel prisoners in Alleghany County, his role in the community, and his search for family on the road in MLB.
A different sort of baseball book about a different sort of player, and a worthy read.
February 1, 2023
Of all the major professional sports, I've always considered baseball to be the most poetic. There is something about the graceful game of catch between the pitcher and catcher that seem to bring harmony between intellect and athletic talent. So it is fitting that Donald Hall, the 14th Poet Laureate of the Library of Congress, would be the one to pen the biography of one of the most colorful characters in the history of the sport. That of course, would be Dock Ellis. And it's all there - the hair curlers he wore under his cap, the legendary disputes he had with the Pittsburgh management, the fight for equality for Black players in the 1970's, and of course the no hitter he pitched while tripping on LSD. But there is so much more. This book tells it as it was as the author followed the controversial player through his most turbulent seasons, showing us why he was hated by many, and misunderstood by the rest. A must read for baseball fans, especially those who think they know Dock Ellis.
June 25, 2021
The combination of the poet Donald Hall and the pitcher Dock Ellis results in some fine baseball writing. This is on my list of the better baseball books I've read; and I've read a lot of them. Hall's comments (in 1976) about the Negro Leagues are right on, and Hall and Dock introduced me to a star from those days, Chet Brewer, who was a mentor to Dock and to many other major leaguers. He sounds like a great man, Mr. Brewer.
As it happened, I read the first edition of "In the Country of Baseball." In a subsequent edition, Hall admitted that he had left out much of Dock's (and everyone else's) abuse of pills, and that he misleadingly reported that the intoxicating substance Dock ingested on the night of his no-hitter was vodka -- when, as baseball fans know, it was LSD. But Dock was a good man, and his better qualities are truly evident in Hall's book, even though the story ends early, in 1976. Dock had a lot of baseball and a lot of life left.
As it happened, I read the first edition of "In the Country of Baseball." In a subsequent edition, Hall admitted that he had left out much of Dock's (and everyone else's) abuse of pills, and that he misleadingly reported that the intoxicating substance Dock ingested on the night of his no-hitter was vodka -- when, as baseball fans know, it was LSD. But Dock was a good man, and his better qualities are truly evident in Hall's book, even though the story ends early, in 1976. Dock had a lot of baseball and a lot of life left.
February 19, 2024
I had a lot of expectations for this book. A biography about the flamboyant baseball personality, Dock Ellis, in the words of poet Donald Hall. It fell flat for me. It turned out to be a run of the mill baseball book with regurgitated information from newspaper box scores and not very interesting stories.
It tries to be like Bouton's Ball Four, but you find out in the last chapter, Adjustments, that was added 8 years afterward that Hall covered up the LSD no-no with vodka and protected Dock about teammates he was critical of. It was probably a good idea, Bouton pretty much was blacklisted after his book, and Dock Ellis played 4 more uneven seasons in baseball.
I've read a lot of baseball biographies, and this one missed the mark with me. Is it worth the read? Only if you want to read a baseball book.
It tries to be like Bouton's Ball Four, but you find out in the last chapter, Adjustments, that was added 8 years afterward that Hall covered up the LSD no-no with vodka and protected Dock about teammates he was critical of. It was probably a good idea, Bouton pretty much was blacklisted after his book, and Dock Ellis played 4 more uneven seasons in baseball.
I've read a lot of baseball biographies, and this one missed the mark with me. Is it worth the read? Only if you want to read a baseball book.
June 11, 2021
Great book about the journey of Dock Ellis, "legendary" pitcher mainly for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was deemed a "troublemaker," a "clubhouse lawyer," and many other derogatory names, while dealing with elements of racism from the baseball establishment and fans.
Donald Hall does a very good job of detailing Dock's feeling about, and analysis of, various games he pitched. This provides an excellent portrait of a certain time and place in baseball. Dock gives honest and some surprising opinions about teammates and other players.
Dock has led an unusual life, and some of his struggles directed him toward helping others, visiting prisons (while a player), assisting at-risk youth, and finally as a successful drug rehabilitation counselor.
Donald Hall does a very good job of detailing Dock's feeling about, and analysis of, various games he pitched. This provides an excellent portrait of a certain time and place in baseball. Dock gives honest and some surprising opinions about teammates and other players.
Dock has led an unusual life, and some of his struggles directed him toward helping others, visiting prisons (while a player), assisting at-risk youth, and finally as a successful drug rehabilitation counselor.
November 18, 2022
So this guy, Dock Ellis, was pitching for the Pirates in Pittsburgh when I was living there - sadly it passed me by totally. The whole race thing - the segregation back in the seventies - the distrust and fear ... like I was wary of walking from Oakland to Downtown through the Hill District or getting off the bus in Wilkinsburg or the North Side. So sad and unnecessary - and just then the Pirates were fielding black players then like no other team in the league. I should have been hip to that. And not only to Hendrix. Great book - great story.
July 17, 2018
An essential baseball read
I will read just about any book about baseball and I found the late Donald Hall's book on Dock Ellis to be one of the best books about the sport and those who play it. This is right up there with Kahn's "The Boys of Summer" but I enjoyed this more. Ellis was such a fascinating character and hearing his views on the game and life in and outside of it was as interesting as it gets. I highly recommend this one.
I will read just about any book about baseball and I found the late Donald Hall's book on Dock Ellis to be one of the best books about the sport and those who play it. This is right up there with Kahn's "The Boys of Summer" but I enjoyed this more. Ellis was such a fascinating character and hearing his views on the game and life in and outside of it was as interesting as it gets. I highly recommend this one.
January 20, 2020
Pretty great to read a living biography of such a colorful guy. Posthumous bios have their own strengths, but this kind of ride along approach was especially suited to such a vibrant dude.
October 3, 2023
The one and only Dock Ellis.
If you've never seen this animated short, with Dock himself narrating, you're in for a treat: https://youtu.be/_vUhSYLRw14?si=Dp5PI...
If you've never seen this animated short, with Dock himself narrating, you're in for a treat: https://youtu.be/_vUhSYLRw14?si=Dp5PI...
February 9, 2024
I liked Donald Hall’s poetic writing for a biography of baseball player. It wasn’t a typical biography. Doc Ellis was portrayed as a spicy character and that’s fun to think about as a teammate.
January 12, 2008
This is a wonderful and very free book, by a wonderful and very free man. Written near the end of Dock Ellis' career, in 1976, Hall and Ellis riff on the challenges and occasional triumphs of being a free spirit within a tightly maintained baseball culture. Dock himself, an excellent pitcher (largely for the Pittsburgh Pirates), was highly controversial in his time, and compared to Muhummed Ali: for criticizing management, talking about race to the media, and also for some genuinely outlandish acts, like attempting to hit every batter on the Cincinnati Reds! (He also threw a no-hitter while on LSD--seriously--but this was not revealed until after his retirement. The book's '76 edition says he was drunk on screwdrivers, but its '89 edition tells the real tale).
As a baseball fan, it was a good read from an excellent writer about the sights and sounds of major league baseball. It also told me a bit about an earlier era of baseball, when players, while rich, were not yet completely separated from their fans. But it was also informative about the ongoing predicament of American black athletes who want to speak their minds, who juggle sometimes conflicting responsibilities: expected as athletes to sublimate personality and politics to the interests of the team and the business that runs it, but also feeling an obligation as privileged and prominent black people to speak up for the majority of black people who lack such opportunity.
And a note on Hall...a famous poet, Hall's prose is unpredictable and fun...the book slides between different events and eras from Ellis' life, and frequently takes in Hall's point of view as an intellectual infiltrating baseball culture, and as a white man writing a book on an outspoken black athlete. The mere fact that Ellis and Hall found each other speaks well for the openness of them both, and the book's style reflects the freedom and possibility and breadth of their partnership.
An entertaining book about a fascinating guy.
As a baseball fan, it was a good read from an excellent writer about the sights and sounds of major league baseball. It also told me a bit about an earlier era of baseball, when players, while rich, were not yet completely separated from their fans. But it was also informative about the ongoing predicament of American black athletes who want to speak their minds, who juggle sometimes conflicting responsibilities: expected as athletes to sublimate personality and politics to the interests of the team and the business that runs it, but also feeling an obligation as privileged and prominent black people to speak up for the majority of black people who lack such opportunity.
And a note on Hall...a famous poet, Hall's prose is unpredictable and fun...the book slides between different events and eras from Ellis' life, and frequently takes in Hall's point of view as an intellectual infiltrating baseball culture, and as a white man writing a book on an outspoken black athlete. The mere fact that Ellis and Hall found each other speaks well for the openness of them both, and the book's style reflects the freedom and possibility and breadth of their partnership.
An entertaining book about a fascinating guy.
May 10, 2010
If you've heard of Dock Ellis, it's because of the LSD No-No. If that intrigued you enough to Google his name, you were further intrigued by his other notable on-field antics: beaning the first three Reds batters in a Spring, 1974 game, taking BP in hair curlers. If you subsequently picked up Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball, you finished the book ashamed at your initial superficial interest in Dock. Because you realized that, in spite of the necessary skeptism you apply to athletes, in terms of their personal lives, he was a genuine dude, good to his friends and to his community, with no tolerance for bullshit.
Donald Hall, in his first sports memoir foray, proves himself a better poet than journalist. The 1974 season is rendered too loosely as a narrative, in spite of the compelling story of the Pirates' improbable comeback, which was indirectly inspired by Dock trying to take the heads off of Cincinnati. But that's not a big deal, really. Hall's love of the game and respect for Dock's all-or-nothing approach to civil rights shine through. And they are enough.
Donald Hall, in his first sports memoir foray, proves himself a better poet than journalist. The 1974 season is rendered too loosely as a narrative, in spite of the compelling story of the Pirates' improbable comeback, which was indirectly inspired by Dock trying to take the heads off of Cincinnati. But that's not a big deal, really. Hall's love of the game and respect for Dock's all-or-nothing approach to civil rights shine through. And they are enough.
August 4, 2014
A book about Dock Ellis can't be dull, but this one tries hard at it.
The epilogue chapter, added on twelve years after the original 1976 publication, indicates all the drugs removed from the original chapters (Dock Ellis' infamous no-hitter on LSD is called a "hangover" no-hitter in the original) and goes into Dock's rehab and rebirth as a drug counselor. It's more interesting and honest than anything in the 300 or so pages preceding it.
That said, Dock Ellis was a bad motherfucker. Three stars by default.
The epilogue chapter, added on twelve years after the original 1976 publication, indicates all the drugs removed from the original chapters (Dock Ellis' infamous no-hitter on LSD is called a "hangover" no-hitter in the original) and goes into Dock's rehab and rebirth as a drug counselor. It's more interesting and honest than anything in the 300 or so pages preceding it.
That said, Dock Ellis was a bad motherfucker. Three stars by default.
March 24, 2011
The story of Dock Ellis, from LA through the minor leagues, the the Pirates and retirement. The best parts of the book are descriptions of games from a pitcher's point of view. The book is some what not forth right about drugs and alcohol and groupies. The book seems an honest record of Dock's life, but glosses over four marriages and rehab. The author adds an overarching idea that he land of baseball is a separate place amongst us all. Maybe it is.
February 26, 2011
Dock Ellis was a pitcher for the Pirates in the 70's. Best known for pitching a no-hitter while he was tripping on acid, he also made a big impact on race relations in the game. Hall, best known for his poetry, collaborated with Ellis on the book and he pulls you into his story--Ellis's rise, his heyday, and his eventual decline. One of my favorite baseball books.
September 13, 2012
I had low expectations for this one but it was a delight to read. Took me back to the 70's when Dock Ellis was pitching high (on LSD, not pitch location) and making waves with his outspoken point of view. This is one every Pirates fan should read.
April 29, 2013
I didn't think I'd ever rank a baseball book as high as Roger Angell's work- but Donald Hall has done it. Fantastic.
November 10, 2015
Wonderful insight not only into the game of baseball, but into the minds and hearts of a country during times of change.
May 15, 2016
One of my favorite poets writes a book about one unique baseball player--who ends up leaving the country of baseball for something surprising and wonderful. A dang good sports book.
Want to read
September 1, 2007All I know is that Dock Ellis pitched a No Hitter while on LSD...
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