We could fill up the page with Dock Ellis stories, but the highlights of Ellis as a Pittsburgh Pirate include pitching a no-hitter in 1970, being a National League All-Star in 1971 and a World Series champion for the Bucs in 1971.
And oh, by the way, Ellis later claimed he pitched that 1970 no-hitter against the Padres... while on LSD. That same "psychedelic summer" Topps issed Ellis card, #551, a somewhat "high" number!
Our consignor was on the autograph hunt in the early 1970's and inked Ellis in black ballpoint at the time. This signed classic has been authenticated and encapsulated by PSA/DNA, deeming Dock's penmanship a strong NM-MT 8. A real eye pleasing combination of the card design, Ellis image and vintage autograph.
Provenance:
As documented in the story The Great Autograph Hunt from the February 5, 1974 Dayton (Ohio) Journal Herald, Jack Zimmerman and his grade school buddies Tim Gallagher and Vince Martin started collecting autographs of athletes through the mail, at games and at team hotels, primarily in the Cincinnati and Dayton areas. The boys were relentless in their pursuit of baseball, basketball and football players, obtaining the stars and "commons" of the day, plus "old timers" and "legends" that were coaches, broadcasters or responsive through the mail. Jack was locked in on collecting from about 1968 through 1975, until pursuit of his own basketball career took priority. Jack became an All-State high school player, then had a Hall of Fame career hooping at the University of Dayton, followed by several seasons as an overseas pro, including suiting up for the prestigious Maccabi Tel Aviv club. Jack's extensive collection was essentially put in a time capsule in 1976 and has literally followed him all over the world. We are proud to present selected treasures from Jack's collection in our Auction, fresh to the hobby and seeing the light of day for the first time in over 45 years!