FORMER YANKEE DOCK ELLIS FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE

[Lil Bit Special]

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05182008/sports/yankees/former_yankee_ellis_fighting_for_his_lif_111373.htm

Dock Phillip Ellis' voice reveals how much pain he is in. The former pitcher speaks slowly, haltingly about his battle with cirrhosis of the liver.

"It's pretty bad," Ellis said in a phone interview last week. "I spend more time itching than anything because that goes with the cirrhosis. I just try to take it slow."

The 63-year-old does not have much choice. Since being diagnosed the day after Thanksgiving, Ellis has deteriorated rapidly. He spends most of his days lying in bed or on the couch of his Apple Valley, Calif. home. He no longer can drive and the disease has wiped him out.

"He's fatigued at all times and he's lost his appetite," Ellis' wife of 23 years, Hjordis, said. "I've watched my husband lose over 60 pounds since November. He has very serious bouts of delusion. He's very emotional and he cries a lot. That's something I never thought I'd see."

Ellis pitched 12 years in the big leagues, including stints with the Yankees New York Yankees and Mets. He is best known for his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates, helping the Bucs win the 1971 World Series with a 19-9 record.

Ellis never fit the model of a ballplayer with his outspoken and outlandish behavior. He spoke up for the rights of black players and fought for free agency. He also infamously pitched a no-hitter while on LSD and showed up in the dugout one day with curlers in his hair.

He battled alcoholism until 1980 when he checked into rehab and kicked the habit. Ellis went on to become a drug counselor.

His old habit may have caught up to him, though, last Thanksgiving when he began shaking and having delusions during the family's dinner.

"I was shaking like a leaf, bobbing and weaving like Joe Frazier," Ellis said with a chuckle. "I didn't know who I was."

Ellis went to a local hospital and was diagnosed. Complicating matters, Ellis had started a new job and was without health insurance. The Ellis' now question if they received the best treatment because the hospital knew he wouldn't be able to pay his bills.

"The most difficult part is when he gets sick and I take him to hospital and once they find out he doesn't have insurance, the lack of concern and care," Hjordis said. "You can witness a change. There have been times when he's been very ill, and they've basically kicked him out of the hospital."

A few of Ellis' friends, led by David Reich, the son of his former agent Tom Reich, have tried to change that. They brought Ellis to UCLA Medical Center recently and Reich paid for his exams. If Ellis is found to be healthy enough, he could be placed on a liver transplant list in the upcoming weeks.

Reich has enlisted the help of Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, who is on the board of the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.). Along with executive director Jim Martin, Morgan and B.A.T. have begun to help Ellis. Yankees president Randy Levine also has given Ellis a commitment that the team he helped lead to the 1976 American League pennant will aid him.

Hjordis has taken a leave of absence to care for her husband. All the couple can do now is wait and hope that he can have a transplant.

"I don't think most people are understanding the severity of the illness," Hjordis said. "It's a matter of life and death with him now."