1978 Topps Baseball #209 - Dock Ellis
- Dock Ellis spent the entire 1978 season with the Texas Rangers. This was a much more stable year than 1977 (pitched for three teams) or 1979 (his final year - pitched for three teams). Ellis still wasn't happy about his 1977 trade from the New York Yankees during spring training in 1978.
- Dock's stats started to fall off late in his career because he wasn't striking out as many batters. His walks per nine innings stayed pretty constant throughout his career, but Dock struck out only three batters per nine innings in 1978.
- Dock clashed with Texas manager Billy Hunter during the 1978 season. Ellis disagreed with a team rule prohibiting players from drinking in the hotel bar on road trips. Dock also disagreed with an edict from Hunter saying that players couldn't bring bottles of alcohol in their suitcases on team flights.
- Ellis had a groin injury that kept him out for a month in July and August. It also hindered his effectiveness for the rest of the season. Hunter also told Dock not to bother making the last road trip in late September.
- Ellis died of liver disease on December 19, 2008.
- 1978 Stats: 9-7, 4.20 ERA in 22 starts
- 1978 Highlights:
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