America's Favorite Pastime
Todd Snider Lyrics

Dock Ellis didn't think he would pitch that day
Dock Ellis was not expecting to play baseball on that day.

Back in 1970
This incident happened in the year 1970.

When he and his wife took a trip to the ballpark
Dock Ellis was accompanied by his wife to the stadium.

A little bit differently
They took a different approach or had a new experience than usual.

So by the time he hit the bullpen
By the time he arrived at the bullpen to warm up for pitching.

Half the world had melted away
Dock Ellis was under the influence of LSD, and his senses were less acute, making his surroundings appear distorted or blurry.

That's about the time coach Murtaugh said
Coach Murtaugh spoke to Dock Ellis around that time.

Hey dock your pitching today
The coach informed Dock Ellis that he would be pitching that day.

Taking the mound the ground turned into
When Dock Ellis went to the field to pitch, his perception of the field began to change due to the LSD, causing his surroundings to appear different.

The icing on a birthday cake
The ground looked like the icing on a birthday cake, topped with different colors of icing or patterns.

The lead off man came up and turned into
The first player on the opposite team seemed to transform into or resemble a dancing rattlesnake due to Dock Ellis's LSD use.

A dancing rattle snake
The first batter appeared snake-like or moving in a snake-like way.

The crowd tracked back and forth
The audience seemed to sway or move in waves as Dock Ellis pitched.

In waves of color underneath the sun
The audience swaying back and forth appeared to be a mosaic of different colors, most likely due to the LSD causing Ellis's vision to become distorted.

The ball turned into a silver bullet
The ball Ellis pitched appeared like a shiny silver bullet, moving expertly towards the batter.

His arm into a gun
Dock Ellis's arm turned into a sharpshooter's weapon, precise and skilled as he intended to throw the ball at high velocity.

Three up three down for three straight innings
The opposition team had no hits or score for three consecutive innings.

In a zero zero tie
Both teams had scored zero points by this point in the game.

As all those batters names came ringing
The announcer's voice boomed stadium-wide as he called out the names of each batter before they came to the plate.

From some voice out of the sky
The announcer's voice came over the loudspeaker system in the stadium.

Hallucinating Halloween scenes
Dock Ellis's LSD usage caused him to have vivid and hallucinogenic experiences, such as Halloween-themed visuals, while playing baseball.

Each new swing of the bat
As each batter came up to swing at the ball thrown by Dock Ellis, he was inundated with a new wave of hallucinations.

His sinker looked like it was falling off a table
Dock Ellis's pitch had a trajectory that appeared like the ball was falling off a table due to the LSD making his perception of reality change/disappear intermittently.

But nobody was hallucinating that
Although Dock Ellis was hallucinating, one thing that was still real was the fact that people witnessed his pitch.

By the top of the seventh he was up one to nothing
At the beginning of the seventh inning, Dock Ellis's team was winning by a score of 1-0.

And giving them padres fits
Ellis's pitching caused the opposing team, San Diego Padres, to experience difficulty hitting the ball or score any points.

By the bottom of the eighth he was up two to nothing
Dock Ellis's team was now leading 2-0 by the end of the eighth inning.

And they still hadn't got any hits
Even by this point in the game, the Padres had not yet struck the ball, indicating Ellis's impressive pitching.

With one out left to go in the game
There was only one out left before the end of the game, and Dock Ellis was still pitching without the opposing team scoring any points.

The batter looked like a baby child
The batter at that moment appeared young or helpless, as if they did not know how to hit the ball thrown by Ellis.

The birthday caking was shaking
The psychedelic effects of LSD made the world around Dock Ellis seem as if it were moving or wobbling, similar to how a cake with frosting on top might jiggle or shake.

And those waves of color were going wild
The earlier waves of color in the audience now seem even more vivid, perhaps due to the climactic point of the game.

When he finally mowed the last man down
Ellis handled the last batter successfully, striking him out or striking him down.

He was high as he had ever been
Dock Ellis was at the peak of his LSD experience, and therefore, everything appeared more overwhelming/fantastic for him.

Laughing to the sound of the world going around
Dock Ellis was not taking things seriously and amusingly enjoyed the crowd and game's sounds around him.

Completely unaware of the win
Ellis was not aware he had beated the other team, likely due to the continued effects of LSD.

And while the papers would say he was scattered that day
The press would report that Dock Ellis's performance was less organized or erratic due to the LSD use.

He was pretty as a pitcher could be
Regardless of the LSD use, Dock Ellis performed remarkably as a pitcher and impressed the audience with his performance.

The day dock Ellis of the Pittsburgh pirates
This day belonged to Dock Ellis, who was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Threw a no-hitter on LSD
Dock Ellis achieved a no-hit game while under the influence of LSD.

I took a look all around the world one time
The singer (Todd Snider) is deliberating on what he has learned after having made his observations.

Finally discovered
After taking a comprehensive look at various situations, he made a significant realization.

You can't judge a book
A person's full story and who they are as a person cannot be gleaned from one instance or factor.