Dock Ellis, 1945 - 2008

Dock Ellis passed on last weekend after battling cirrhosis, and there's been much tribute paid on the Internet. Ellis was a starting pitcher who mostly played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 70s. He's most famous for pitching a no-hitter against the Padres while on acid, but he's also known for purposefully beaning the starting line-up of the Cincinnati Reds in 1974 to motivate his team to win. Ellis was pulled from the game before he could nail Johnny Bench in the head, but he managed to wallop Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Dan Driessen before management stepped in. His team did go on to win a few games afterwards but no one's proven that his methodology was the key factor in getting the wins. 

If you read his book, "Dock Ellis in the Country of Baseball" co-written with Poet Laureate Donald Hall, you'll be amazed at how much racism was a part of 70s baseball. Ellis was was incapable of letting anyone think they could get away with making him feel inferior. He used his anger in interesting and often constructive ways to fight the ugly fight. I'm glad he got it down on paper because that's quite a hidden history. 

 He got sober after his baseball days were over and worked as a drug counselor at prisons and with youth groups to help other men have better lives. He gave a lot of himself. 

Cardboard Gods has a great write-up and lots of links about Dock Ellis. 

Barbara Manning's Dock Ellis (performed with the SF Seals on their 3-song EP, "Baseball Trilogy") celebrates all his career milestones, LSD-enhanced and beyond. She and I made this music video in San Francisco quite a few years ago with tons of low-budget psychedelic visual effects.

 

Barbara Manning's long-lost music videos - found

Long, long ago, back in the early 90s, I was making films for fun and very little profit. Well, I don't think I ever made a profit, but I definitely broke even on these two, thanks to Matador Records' big-time budgets of $300 each (thanks to the record label public-relations model of old). These were a lot of fun to make and I had much help from friends who have stuck with filmmaking, some of whom are so legit, their film jobs come with health plans.

Barbara Manning is a singer/songwriter, who graced the streets of San Francisco for many years, making it an even better city than ever before. She lives in another part of California now, but her presence is still felt in the foggy byways of the City by the Bay. And she could really play baseball too, while wearing a dress and smiling the whole time. I miss you Barbara.

Dock Ellis is from the EP "Baseball Trilogy." Barbara's band, The S.F. Seals, were named after the old-timey minor-league team. Dock Ellis was a unique player who pitched a no-hitter while tripping on acid. He later co-authored with poet-laureate, Donald Hall, the book In the Country of Baseball, about his time in the Major League. After retiring from baseball, he worked as a drug counselor. Sadly, he died in 2008 at age 63.



Barbara's song Still? is a haunting tune from the S.F. Seals album "Nowhere." Featuring scenes from the Manning Manor as well as from the long-gone Master Links miniature golf course in my hometown of Concord, California. I think every music video should focus on either a baseball player on acid or a game of miniature golf. That's my winning combination.

Clarion Alley Murals, San Francisco

Bloggers experiencing "blogger's block" simply need to walk around the Mission District in San Francisco. Don't forget your camera, like I did, and have to use your camera phone. I had to tweak these to get the contrast back. It was dusk but luckily just before summer solstice, so it was a bright dusk. Still: will bring the new-ish digital camera (with newfangled built-in flash) next time.

The Clarion Alley Mural Project (CAMP) was started by a group of artists, featuring among others, Aaron Noble (who I used to play pick-up baseball with), and his roommate, Rigo 23, who's a great post-modern muralist. They both lived in a maze-like warehouse building in the alley, which has since been torn down for housing. The alley has changed much and the original CAMP organization has moved on, gathering new recruits over the years, but as far as I know--disbanded...? Correct me if I'm wrong. And hopefully I am because a muralist's work is never done (see note below at last photo).

I have ties to this urine-soaked alley between Valencia and Mission Streets. I filmed a music video at the warehouse for Barbara Manning, featuring our favorite no-hit-pitcher-on-acid, Dock Ellis. I played at a benefit for the alley in my band She Mob (wearing a devil hat and Spiro Agnew t-shirt--it seemed appropriate). I said good-bye to Aaron there as he prepared to move to Los Angeles. Bummer. But through all the hard work of the collective, the murals live on. And on and on.








Heartbreak: Greta Snider's charming Mission street scene has been completely tagged, wheat-pasted, and stickered. I hope someone helps restore this soon.


Shotwell plays at the Clarion Alley Celebration, 2006.