No No: A Dockumentary Page #12

---

Off the hook.

I should not have been

allowed to play baseball

for things that I did.

For things that I did.

But they allowed it.

Larry demery:
If you're lying

to 'em, they'll get up and say,

f*** you!

I done a lot of wrong.

That's what they want to hear.

They don't want

to hear bullshit.

They want to hear

the facts, the truth.

And it has to come from here.

He was so effective with

inmates, because he treated

an inmate just as a person.

Dock wouldn't follow all the

institutional rules, now.

Dock wouldn't follow all the

institutional rules, now.

Dock would bring in food,

and that was a no-no.

He'd let them make phone calls.

That was a no-no.

But there was a method

in his madness.

One time he called me in

for a counseling session.

I thought he was fittin' to chew

me out about not coming to group

and tell me that I probably was

going to have to get moved

back to prison.

And he opened up his lunch bag

and he pulled out some Greens

and he opened up his lunch bag

and he pulled out some Greens

and some pork chops and

cornbread, and he put them

on his desk, and he said,

"let's have lunch."

And I sat there and

I thought about it.

I said... because it was against

the rules and policy...

But I thought, I said,

"this man don't even know me

and he's willing to take

this chance, you know."

And I asked him why.

He said, "I know you're tired of

eating this food in here."

And it really showed me that

for no other reason

and it really showed me that

for no other reason

than just because he cared,

he did it.

Because I didn't have anything

to offer; I was doing time.

I talked with dock about,

what do you tell these guys

and young ladies that you are

counseling and trying

to get them to take a

different direction?

And he said, "I would just talk

about the times that I really

"hit rock bottom, and I talk

about it very candidly and say,

'you really don't

ever want to be here.'"

and he would talk about how

lucky he was to have been able

and he would talk about how

lucky he was to have been able

to live through that, because

with what dock experienced

during that time of his life,

he should have passed away then.

And when you listen to stories

from a man that had it all

and lost it all, it's a big

eye-opener when you can relate

to a guy that had that

kind of success,

and has the same

problems you have.

Victor beecham:
I was a gang

member for over 20 years.

I've been shot, I've

been in many gun battles.

I've been shot, I've

been in many gun battles.

Life was at the point to where

it really didn't matter.

And dock Ellis helped me get

back into the normalities

of life, to look things as

they are, realistically,

and make good decisions

and apply ethics and morals.

Dad had a lifelong battle

with alcohol,

and about '97,

and about '97,

he really kind of hit bottom.

He was drinking, you know,

two bottles of vodka a day

and two bottles of wine a day

and cognac, and it was time.

And dock helped dad, talked him

through what he had to do,

how it had to happen, you know,

and helped him get

how it had to happen, you know,

and helped him get

to the other side.

I do motivational speakings

for people that are

incarcerated and on parole.

I run homeless shelters.

I help the youth.

And I was just thinking,

"dock, can you see me now?"

The first pitch, the first

strike out, Willie mays,

the first pitch, the first

strike out, Willie mays,

the first win against the

Dodgers, you know,

I could put groups of

kids in that category.

I get calls now from guys...

(Sobbing) A guy called me

the other night.

He says, "dock, that sh*t you

talked about, fear," he says,

he says, "dock, that sh*t you

talked about, fear," he says,

"I know what that sh*t is now,

I've been promoted."

(Laughs)

He said, "I didn't know that,

that's all it was.

I was scared."

Because I used to tell him he

could do anything he wanted to.

He talked so much sh*t.

I said, "man, you could

sell anything."

But he didn't have no

confidence in himself,

because he was scared.

And he called me to tell me,

he says, "I know what that sh*t

is now, all that sh*t you talked

about in the class."

Is now, all that sh*t you talked

about in the class."

But that's the reward I get.

(Silent film)

(Silent film)

(Music)

(Music)

(Music)

(Music)

(Clears throat)

I couldn't view the body.

I couldn't view the body.

And so the last memory that

I have in him is,

and I try to shut it off on

everybody that funerals I go to,

is remembering him the last

time that he stood up

and we were talking with

each other.

And, um...

And that's pretty much it.

(Music)

Dock was a great human being.

And it was very easy

for me to eulogize him.

And it was very easy

for me to eulogize him.

At first, I thought it was hard,

but once I got there,

it was very easy to talk about

somebody that you liked

and somebody that you loved.

As guys talk about their homeys,

he was my homey.

He was content.

He had found peace with himself.

You've got to uplift

yourself before you can

lift somebody else.

And that's what he did.

And I told him all those

things before he died,

and I told him all those

things before he died,

what he did to translate

me into a better person.

A lot of kids nowadays,

especially the players,

don't understand what

happened or what dock Ellis

type of people did.

Jackie Robinson...

He might have said it all...

(Sobbing)

When he said, you might

want to give up.

But I never did,

and I never will.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes