St. Louis News Blog

Dock Ellis' rookie card from 1969.

​The late Dock Ellis has one of the coolest baseball stories ever told to call his own. In 1970, he pitched a no-hitter. On acid.

Dock died on December 19 of last year, but not before Kevin McAlester of the Houston Press could write this detailed feature story, aptly titled "High Times," about him.

Below is an brand-new illustrated video by James Blagden that recalls Ellis' memories of that day, brought to you by NoMas TV -- with audio of Ellis telling his story, in his own words.

To call Ellis' retelling funny or memorable is just selling this gem short. Check it out after the jump...

Though last night's World Series opener lacked a compelling plot line on the field, the dramaturgs at Major League Baseball and FOX saw to the heartstrings-pulling with a flag-waving tribute to Our Troops.

​​As MLB announced in a press release yesterday, Game One was "dedicated in support of Welcome Back Veterans (www.welcomebackveterans.org), an MLB Charities initiative designed to support returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families with mental health treatment and job opportunities." 

Last week here at Daily RFT we took a look at a recent interview St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols gave to a Dominican radio station and, more precisely, explained that Pujols' comments were inaccurately spun by the U.S. press, nationally and locally.

Wikimedia Commons | shgmom56

El Hombre, misunderstood All-Star

I thought I was still slumbering this morning when I opened up the paper to read that Cardinals manager Tony La Russa is expected to sign a new two-year deal with the club on the condition that the Redbirds also sign tainted slugger Mark McGwire as hitting coach.

A triumphant return for Mr. McGwire?

​According to the Post-Dispatch, La Russa will sign a two-year, $8.5-million extension today with the Cardinals and lay out his plans for replacing hitting coach Hal McRae with McGwire.

La Russa and McGwire are old friends dating back to their days with the Oakland A's in the 1980s and early '90s. It was with the Cardinals, though, that McGwire's homerun swing took off with the first-basemen hitting 70 dingers in 1998 to smash Roger Maris' longtime record of 61. La Russa has also remained a staunch McGwire apologist following allegations that the slugger's hitting prowess was aided by steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.
 

TLR's mugshot on Twitter

​That's right. Yesterday, Tony La Russa joined the ranks of millions when he registered a real Twitter account under his name.

As you'll recall, the Cardinals skipper sued Twitter back in May, when he discovered someone was passing himself (or herself) off as La Russa on the popular social media site. The lawsuit alleged that Twitter was damaging the trademark rights to La Russa's famous name.

The legal claim was soon dropped, however, when it became evident that La Russa didn't stand a chance of winning the suit, thanks in part to federal laws that prevent websites from being held accountable for what their users post online.

Following the suit's dismissal, a rumor circulated that La Russa agreed to settle the case after Twitter made a sizable donation to La Russa's Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF). But that wasn't true. The case was settled without any monetary compensation, according to reports.

We bring this last tidbit up, because ARF is all that La Russa has tweeted about thus far on his account.

Steve Phillips

​Yes, pollsters, feel free to defecate on St. Louis all you want. But here's one ranking where we certainly score high marks: cities where passing sports figures can get involved in bizarro relationships with detestable wenches.

Consider baseball player Ronnie Belliard. The current Los Angeles Dodger was with St. Louis for three (maybe four) months back in '06 -- enough time for him to get caught up with a psycho who later tried to extort the ballplayer on false claims that he impregnated her.

Now its ESPN baseball analyst (and former Mets general manager) Steve Phillips. Phillips was in St. Louis this summer when he first began an affair with a 22-year-old ESPN production assistant named Brooke Hundley.

We'll let Hundley tell you the details of their St. Louis tryst via an excerpt of the "Fatal Attraction" letter she recently left Phillips' wife. We'll call it, "Strike One."

Wikimedia Commons

​Near the end of 2006, a tempest boiled over in the local sports teapot when Albert Pujols, in an interview with reporters in his native Dominican Republic, opined that maybe he, and not Ryan Howard, was entitled to that season's Most Valuable Player award, by virtue of the fact that Pujols' St. Louis Cardinals reached the postseason that year and Howard's Philadelphia Phillies didn't.

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Followers of our fair leader's Twitter feed have no doubt noticed the back and forth banter between Mayor Slay and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The two have a whole lot riding on the outcome of the National League Division Series.

And by a "whole lot" we mean not really that much at all. Unless you count a Pulitzer Prize-winning publication.

Leitch

​The St. Louis Cardinals are not going to make it past the first round of the playoffs, according to a sports blog hero and admitted Cardinal fan.

Will Leitch, founder of Deadspin and now blogger emeritus for the blog that ESPN loves to hate, gave that prediction today. However, this decade alone, the Cardinals had one team destined for a championship get swept by the Red Sox, and another that hobbled into October win it all, with trophy-humping results.

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In just a moment we're going to hear from Craig Welling, a Denver blogger who snapped a photograph that was the source of much argument and consternation around the Interwebs last week.

Last August, the ever-brooding Jeff Kent, finishing out his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, threw one of his patented hissy fits when a Los Angeles Times columnist had the temerity to suggest that Manny Ramirez's arrival had helped Kent raise his batting average by twenty points.

Wikipedia

Vin Scully, baseball's chattiest Cathy.

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Apparently, it was the legendary Vin Scully, the Dodgers' Hall of Fame broadcaster, who made the seemingly benign observation, thus incurring the second baseman's wrath.

"Vin Scully talks too much," growled Kent, perhaps unaware in the heat of the moment that the iconic Scully has been laboring in the Dodgers broadcast booth for six decades. He is known for his keen insights.

But now, as it turns out, it looks as though the ill-tempered Kent may be on to something.