John Ellis

When John “Moose” Ellis was 20, Lou Gehrig’s widow anointed him as the long-awaited successor to the legendary Yankee first baseman.1 Ellis, a 6-foot-2, 225-pound catcher/first baseman, never lived up to that hype during his 13-year injury-marred career (1969-81). Yet he made his mark as a valuable right-handed hitter for three different teams – and one who wasn’t afraid to mix it up in a brawl. He also was embroiled in a public falling out with Cleveland manager Frank Robinson.

After his playing days, though, was when Ellis really shone. First, he became a successful real estate magnate. Then, when cancer struck not only his own family but Ellis himself, he created a foundation to provide financial support for families of cancer patients. It raised millions of dollars before Ellis’s own death from a recurrence of his disease in 2023.

John Charles Ellis was born August 21, 1948, in New London, Connecticut, to Wanda (Weiss) and Louis Ellis. John was the middle child of five siblings, including two brothers and two sisters. New London, on Long Island Sound, is home to both a Coast Guard base and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Louis was a Coast Guard recruiter, and the family moved from Connecticut to Virginia to Michigan as he pursued the rank of chief petty officer.2

The family moved back to New London in 1964, and John became a star football and baseball player at New London High School. An All-State middle linebacker during his senior season, Ellis was recruited by more than 30 schools, including Notre Dame.3

Ellis, then an outfielder, also had an outstanding baseball season in his senior year. The highlight was becoming the first high school player to homer over the left-field wall at Veterans Memorial Field in New London. The feat had last been achieved 21 years earlier by Yogi Berra, who was stationed at the nearby submarine base in Groton while in the Navy during World War II.4 But Ellis’s senior season came to an early halt when he was kicked off the team and suspended from school after getting in a fight with an opposing team’s catcher.5 Unsurprisingly, not a single major league team took a chance on Ellis in the 1966 free agent draft.

Ellis got back on the scouts’ radar that summer, though, while playing American Legion ball. Ellis, who had a cast on a broken bone in his hand, heard that scouts were coming to a game to watch Stamford’s Bobby Valentine.6 Ellis removed the cast and hit three home runs against Valentine’s team, including one that traveled an estimated 450 feet.7

Soon afterwards, Ellis, who later claimed that nearly every major league team wanted to sign him,8 was offered a contract both by Red Sox scout Bots Nekola and by Yankees scout Harry Hesse. Nekola told him Boston would pay him more than New York, but Ellis didn’t care. “I wanted to play for the Yankees, because they were the greatest team in the world as far as I was concerned,” he said.9 On August 15, 1966, Ellis and his father drove to Yankee Stadium to watch New York play Detroit and to sign a contract with the Yankees, which included a $25,000 signing bonus.10 It was the first time the 17-year-old Ellis had been in a major-league park.11

Ellis spent the offseason attending Mitchell College in New London and getting ready to switch positions, because the Yankees wanted to convert him into a catcher.12 Ellis’s pro career began in 1967 with Fort Lauderdale in the Class A Florida State League. He batted .280, but his season was cut short – like many players during the Vietnam War, Ellis enlisted in the National Guard and had to attend basic training.13 Dozens of players, encouraged by baseball to do so, either joined the Guard or the Army Reserves in order to avoid being drafted, which would have been a full-time commitment for two years and likely would have had them sent to Vietnam.14

Heading into spring training in 1968, Ellis already was creating a buzz. “He is green as grass and will probably need three years of polish, but the Yankees think they have come up with a sleeper,” wrote Jim Ogle in The Sporting News.15

After a slow start for Fort Lauderdale, Ellis heated up and got promoted to Syracuse at the end of August. In his Triple A debut, he had six hits in a doubleheader, and in 13 games batted .348 with an .832 OPS (on-base plus slugging).16 That offseason, Ellis married high school sweetheart Angela DeLaura. The couple would have two children – Erika and John Jr. – before divorcing in 1986. Ellis also continued to study business and real estate at Mitchell College.17

The Yankees left Ellis unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft but were able to pull him back before either Kansas City or Seattle could select him.18 The Yankees then placed the 20-year-old Ellis on their 37-man roster for the 1969 season. Disappointed to start the season with Single A Kinston (North Carolina), Ellis made the best of it by hitting .361 with six homers and 28 RBIs in 24 games. When the Yankees’ starting catcher, Jake Gibbs, went on the DL with an injured finger, no one was more surprised than Ellis to be summoned on May 16 to Yankee Stadium, as the next three catchers in line to fill in were all on military duty.19

Ellis’s major league debut was a memorable one. After receiving the news of his promotion that afternoon in Kinston, he and Angela checked in to the Concord Plaza Hotel in New York late that night, only to have their sleep in their 11th-floor room disrupted by a fire on the floor above.20 The next day, with his entire family in the stands, Ellis was hit by a pitch his first time up, hit a sacrifice fly in his third at-bat, and capped off his day with an inside-the-park home run. He also caught a two-hit shutout by Stan Bahnsen.21

Ellis’s inside-the-park homer, which came off the Angels’ Bob Priddy, traveled an estimated 400 feet in the air and rolled another 17 feet to the left-field wall.22 Ogle wrote in TSN: “The whole Yankee bench, including manager (Ralph) Houk, was up cheering the rookie as he raced down the third base line gasping for breath. Gene Michael immediately pinned a nickname on the rookie, who is now known as Thunder Ellis.”23 The play, much to the dismay of the 10,651 fans, was at first ruled a triple and an error, but was changed to a home run following a review.24

“When I hit the ball, I figured it was my first major league hit,” Ellis said. “Then I saw it was a double, then I headed for third and was amazed to see (third base coach) Dick (Howser) waving me on. I had never hit an inside-the-park home run in my life, but now I get one in my first Yankee game.”

Ellis stayed with the Yankees until getting called to military duty in July, after which he went to Syracuse. He remained there until being called back up when the rosters expanded in September. All told, he played 22 games for the Yankees, batting .290. With Thurman Munson, the Yankees’ first-round draft pick in 1968, also in the catching picture, the Yankees sent Ellis to the Florida Instructional League to learn how to play first base.25

Thanks to the offseason trade of popular incumbent first baseman Joe Pepitone to Houston, the position was up for grabs as the Yankees began spring training in 1970. Ellis competed with Frank Tepedino and the newly acquired Danny Cater.26 In addition to tirelessly working in the field, taking countless grounders each day at his new position, Ellis tore up the Grapefruit League at the plate. He batted .358 with 18 RBIs in 18 games, slugged .698, and led the team in nearly every offensive category. It was considered the most impressive spring training for a Yankee rookie since Mickey Mantle’s performance in 1951. Sure enough, it earned Ellis the James P. Dawson Award, voted on by sportswriters and awarded to the top Yankees rookie each spring. “This wasn’t a freak,” Ellis said. “What you’ve seen this spring you’ll see during the summer if I get a chance to play.”27

His strong spring earned Ellis the Opening Day start at first base and batting cleanup. In the locker room before the game, general manager Lee McPhail handed Ellis a note from Lou Gehrig’s widow, Eleanor, which read in part: “For 30 years I have been looking for Lou’s successor (if not better) and I am rooting for you.”28

Ellis, at 20 the youngest player on the team, had trouble living up to those expectations, though – he went 4-for-44 (all singles) to start the season. Munson, the Yankees’ other highly touted rookie, started the season even worse: 1-for-40. Ellis finally got untracked in a doubleheader sweep over Cleveland in which he went 5-for-8 with five RBIs, homering in each game. Ellis went on to hit .286 with an .811 OPS over the rest of the season, which was interrupted by another stint of military service.29 Munson also recovered from his early-season woes, raising his average to .302 and earning Rookie of the Year honors. Ellis and Munson grew to become close friends – in 1979, after Munson’s death in a plane crash, Ellis left his team to attend the funeral.30

Both Munson and Ellis were voted to the Topps All-Rookie Team, and their exploits helped the Yankees finish a surprising second in the AL East, albeit 15 games behind Baltimore. Ellis was never again on a team that finished that high in the standings.

As the 1970 season wound down, the Yankees asked Ellis to play a few games at third base. Cater was entrenched at first and Munson at catcher, and the team wanted to find a way to get Ellis’s bat into the lineup. “Certainly I’m serious about Ellis playing third,” Houk said. “Johnny wanted to try, so there was no reason to deny him a chance.”31  Ellis continued to hone his skills at third base while playing for Ponce in the Puerto Rico Winter League, where he also caught and played first.32

Once again, there was a lot of hype surrounding Ellis heading into spring training. McPhail called him “one of the better young hitters in the league.”33 Houk told the Hartford Courant, “I’d better find a spot for him. He’s big, tough and unhappy when he isn’t playing.”34 In TSN, Ogle compared Ellis to Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew.35

Ellis struggled at the plate that spring. When the 1971 season began, he didn’t have a regular role. He ended up hitting just .244 with three home runs in 83 games.36 He did solidify his reputation as someone not to mess with, though. After a brawl against Cleveland on May 23, one sportswriter said, “Ellis ran around like an angry pit bull, punching everyone in sight – including his own teammates.”37

Fritz Peterson, who was Ellis’s teammate on all three teams for which Ellis played, called Ellis baseball’s version of a hockey enforcer. In his memoir, Mickey Mantle Is Going to Heaven, Peterson wrote, “You’d never know it by his demeanor or appearance but when John got ‘the look’ in his eyes, someone was going to ‘pay the piper.’ I often thought that if John wasn’t such a good baseball player that he should have been a heavyweight boxer, or an NFL linebacker.”38

After the season, Ellis requested a trade, but Houk told him to be patient.39 Instead, the Yankees asked him to go back to the Instructional League to work on his catching, since backup catcher Gibbs was retiring.40

Ellis spent 1972 as the backup to Munson while playing occasionally at first base. His first start didn’t come until April 30, when he had two hits, including a home run, but then he didn’t start again for another three weeks. He played in 52 games, hitting a career-high .294 with five home runs in just 136 at-bats. Ellis spent most of his time as the bullpen catcher.41

That offseason, Ellis got his wish to be traded. While he was back in Puerto Rico playing winter ball, there was a record flurry of trades at the winter meetings – 21 clubs made 19 deals involving 68 players.42 One of the biggest was a six-player swap between Cleveland and New York. The Yankees sent Ellis, Rusty Torres, Charlie Spikes, and Jerry Kenney to the Indians in exchange for Jerry Moses and Graig Nettles, who had led Cleveland in seven offensive categories in 1972. It turned out to be one of the best trades in Yankees history, as Nettles went on to star for New York for 11 years, during which time he won two Gold Gloves and was a five-time All-Star. “We traded tomorrow for today,” Yankees GM McPhail said.43 In Cleveland, meanwhile, 82 percent of fans polled said the trade was a bad one for the Indians.44

Ellis finished his Yankees career hitting .260 in 235 games over four seasons, limited to 16 home runs by the spacious dimensions of left and center field at Yankee Stadium. Ogle summed up Ellis’s Yankees career in TSN: “He has a lot of raw power, but has trouble making contact with good pitching and doesn’t have any position he plays well.”45 Looking back years later on his Yankees career, Ellis said, “I was 20. I wasn’t ready to bat fourth for the New York Yankees.”46

Ellis made history on Opening Day in 1973, as he became the first designated hitter in Indians history. Ellis went on to have the two best years of his career in 1973 and ’74, seeing regular playing time through a combination of catcher, first base, and DH. Those seasons resulted in his two highest marks in Wins Above Replacement (2.0 and 1.3, respectively), and he averaged 12 homers and 66 RBIs while batting .278.47 But even as Ellis was being nominated as the 1973 Indians Man of the Year (won by Buddy Bell), he was being shopped around on the trade market following the team’s last-place finish.48

The Indians had confidence in Ellis, though – enough that on April 26, 1974, they traded first baseman Chris Chambliss to the Yankees. There he, like Nettles, flourished.49 “We hated to give up Chambliss,” said manager Ken Aspromonte.  “But we felt we could afford to do so because of the presence of John Ellis, who has been doing a remarkable job. Not only is Ellis hitting well and driving in runs – he is also doing a fantastic job at first base.”50 Later in the season, Aspromonte called Ellis “the best clutch hitter in the league,” comparing him to Joe Rudi and Rod Carew. “But I’ll take my guy.” He also said John Mayberry and George Scott were the only better-fielding first basemen in the American League.51

Ellis also did well behind the plate, catching Dick Bosman’s July 19 no-hitter against Oakland. Bosman praised his catcher afterwards, saying, “Johnny was great, just great.”52 Ellis capped off his career-best season on September 28 against the Yankees, blasting his first and only career grand slam.

One week later, following a fourth-place finish, the Indians fired Aspromonte and made history by naming Robinson as the first Black manager in major league history. The stage had been set when Robinson was traded to Cleveland for the final three weeks of the season.53 On October 3, he was named the team’s player-manager. On Opening Day of 1975 in front of 56,715 fans, Robinson homered and Ellis, handed the starting catcher job despite a poor spring training, had two hits. Things for Ellis, though, quickly took a turn for the worse.54

Robinson had his concerns about Ellis’s play behind the plate right from the start. He was also unhappy with Ellis’s penchant for missing signs, and Ellis frequently found himself getting fined amounts ranging from $50 to $300 for a variety of infractions. In his memoir, Robinson said, “Most of the guys took the fines in stride and made an effort not to foul up again. John Ellis was not among them.”55 By early June, Ellis was asking to be traded.56 Two weeks later, the Indians turned down a trade offer for him from the Angels.57

It didn’t help that Ellis became friends with star pitcher Gaylord Perry, who led a faction of players upset with Robinson’s strict conditioning routine. “They hated each other,” wrote Greg Popelka in Waiting for Next Year, referring to Perry and Robinson.58 Cleveland sportswriter Terry Pluto noted, “There was an element of race,” in the dispute between Robinson and Perry, a farmboy from the South.59 As for Ellis, he always insisted race had nothing to do with his disputes with Robinson.60

Later that season, he specifically sought out Indians beat writer Russell Schneider to tell his side of the story, but he didn’t want it published until after he was traded. “I want my friends to know I’m not the bad guy Robinson is making me out to be,” Ellis said. “There were circumstances that brought this to a head.” Schneider put Ellis’s account into his 1976 book, Frank Robinson, the Making of a Manager.61

Both Gaylord and his brother Jim Perry were traded by midseason. Ellis was still on the team and hitting .217 on July 18 when he was pulled from the on-deck circle for pinch-hitter Bill Sudakis – hitting .176 – in the eighth inning of a 7-6 loss to Oakland. Ellis stormed into the dugout and started throwing his catching equipment around. He nearly hit Robinson with his catcher’s mask, leading to an angry exchange of words. The next day, Robinson said Ellis would never play for him again, while a contrite Ellis apologized and said his anger was directed at himself, not at Robinson. “I didn’t know what to do. I just exploded,” Ellis said.62

Cleveland GM Phil Seghi tried unsuccessfully to trade Ellis, who eventually returned to the lineup later that month.63 Robinson said he put him back in the lineup “for the good of the team.”64 Meanwhile, Cleveland fans sided with Ellis, calling the Indians’ switchboard and writing letters to the editor of the local newspapers in support.65 As it turned out, injuries sidelined Ellis for the last six weeks of the season.

It was just a matter of time before Ellis was traded. On December 9, 1975, he was sent to Texas for Stan Thomas and Ron Pruitt. Ellis welcomed the news, calling his problems with Robinson “irreconcilable,” adding, “I accept most of the blame.”66 Rangers owner Brad Corbett gushed about the trade. “The bench will be the strongest it ever has been and the reason is John Ellis,” Corbett said. “The guy is a power hitter who can catch, play first base and DH for us.”67

Pinch-hitting, catching and DH-ing, Ellis got off to a great start in his reserve role with Texas. He was batting .419 in 11 games when he broke his left leg and ankle sliding into second base on May 9 in Boston. The injury was so gruesome that Boston’s Jim Rice threw up when he saw how unnaturally Ellis’s leg was bent, and Rangers trainer Bill Ziegler called it the worst injury he’d ever seen on a baseball field.68 Corbett flew Ellis back to Texas on his private plane to be operated on, and Ellis missed the rest of the season. He never completely recovered from the injury. (Throughout his career, he was also plagued by a lingering shoulder injury from his football days.)69

Over the next two seasons, Ellis played sparingly, mostly as the backup catcher to Jim Sundberg, although he did play a prominent role in 1977 in a 25-minute brawl against Kansas City.70 When the Rangers traded for Willie Horton in April 1977, that effectively ended Ellis’s usefulness as a DH. Perhaps sensing the end of his career, Ellis had opened up his own real estate firm in February 1977.71  Coming into the 1979 season, manager Pat Corrales named Ellis as his bullpen player/coach.72

Ellis wasn’t quite ready to retire, though. He lobbied Corrales for more playing time and backed it up with a strong spring training.73 Ellis went on to have one of his best years, batting .285 with 12 homers and 61 RBIs in 111 games. “I’ve always had a lot of confidence in myself as a hitter, but after three years of sitting around, I wasn’t so sure of what I could do.” Ellis said. “If the Ranger front office had its way, I’d be a full-time coach right now. . . the main thing is that Corrales believed in me.”74 A poll of AL managers listed Ellis as one of the top three pinch-hitters in the league.75

After his strong bounce-back season in 1979, Ellis’s career fizzled out. He was the Opening Day starter at first base in 1980, but played sparingly, including a stint on the DL for a hand injury, which resulted in permanent nerve damage.76 In June, Ellis participated in a melee with fans who were harassing the Rangers as they attempted to board their bus outside Chicago’s Comiskey Park.77 Ellis played in only 23 games in 1981 and was released during spring training in 1982, but he stayed in the Texas organization as an advance scout.78

Looking back on his career, in which he hit .262 with a .704 OPS and 69 home runs, Ellis said, “I’m proud that I went out there every day and never quit. If I’ve accomplished one thing in 15 years, it’s that I can look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, I tried.’”79

By the time his playing career ended, Ellis’s real estate business – John Ellis & Associates – had become successful. It grew into a multi-million-dollar enterprise. “I made more money in each off-season than I earned in uniform,” he said.80 An avid hunter and fisherman, Ellis devoted much of his free time to those passions as well.81

But while his real estate career was booming, cancer was devastating Ellis’s family. His older brother, Richard, a teacher, and Richard’s wife, Molly, both died of cancer. John’s younger brother, David, a high school teacher, survived colon cancer but then got leukemia. His sister Doris died of breast cancer. When John was 38, he was diagnosed with Stage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoma in his chest and spleen.82 That same year, 1986, he met Jane Gregory, a former social worker turned flight attendant. She helped him through his treatments, and the couple married in 1988.

John and Jane witnessed firsthand the financial and emotional toll cancer took on not only the patients but also their families. It motivated them to found the Connecticut Cancer Foundation in 1987.83 The endeavor also stemmed from a promise Ellis said he made to God when he was first diagnosed with cancer. “You let me live, and I will dedicate my life to helping Connecticut cancer patients,” Ellis said while undergoing treatment in 1986.84

The foundation’s first benefit dinner in 1988 featured former Yankees stars Billy Martin, Mantle, and Whitey Ford, raising $120,000.85 Subsequent dinners attracted many more big names, including Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Carl Yastrzemski, Henry Aaron, Rice, Derek Jeter, Bob Gibson, and Berra, as well as sportscaster Howard Cosell.

Ellis died on April 6, 2022, at age 73 from a recurrence of his cancer. His widow, Jane, continued to oversee the foundation, which as of 2026 had donated nearly $10 million to families of cancer patients, as well as another $3 million to support cancer research.86 “The families of cancer patients are as important as the people affected,” Ellis said when his foundation was getting started.87

While Ellis never lived up to the high expectations for him on the baseball field, he achieved true greatness off the field, providing comfort and support for hundreds of cancer patients and their families. “It’s really been the purpose of my life,” Ellis said.88

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and Mike Eisenbath and checked for accuracy by SABR’s fact-checking team.

Notes

1 Jim Ogle, “John Ellis gets letter from Mrs. Lou Gehrig,” The Sporting News, April 25, 1970: 26.

2 James Herbert Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer. (Old Mystic, CT, Elm Grove Press, 2021), 7.

3 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer. 8; Bill Braucher, “Ellis adapts to Yankee needs,” Miami Herald, March 13, 1970. The Green Bay Packers even sent Ellis a letter encouraging him to take a football scholarship, noting that he could also still play baseball in college.

4 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer. 9.

5 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 9.

6  Rich Marazzi, “Johnny Ellis,” Sports Collectors Digest, July 3, 1998.

7 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 6.

8 Marazzi, “Johnny Ellis.”

9  Marazzi, “Johnny Ellis.”

10 Jim Ogle, “Denehy strikes out 17 – but comes up 2-0 loser,” The Sporting News, September. 11, 1998, 27.

11  Marazzi, “Johnny Ellis.” Ellis used some of his signing bonus to buy a GTO sports car.

12 John Ellis questionnaire, SABR’s William J. Weiss Collection, April 11, 1967.

13 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer.

14 Charlie Bevis, “Vietnam-War Military Duty and Baseball,” Bevis Baseball Research, https://bevisbaseballresearch.wordpress.com/research-archive/vietnam-war-military-duty-and-baseball/ (last accessed Dec. 28, 2025). Unlike during WW II, when baseball players were encouraged to join the military, and over 500 served, only one player with any MLB experience saw combat duty in Vietnam. That player was Roy Gleason, who had played in eight games four years before being drafted. He was wounded in Vietnam.

15 Jim Ogle, “Yankees Robby eager to erase memory of .196 batting mark,” The Sporting News, February. 17, 1968, 34.

16 Ellis broke his bat on two of the six hits he had in his Triple A debut, prompting his manager, Frank Verdi, to say, “That boy certainly gets distance, even with broken bats.”

17 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer. 14. John Jr. was drafted by the Texas Rangers after playing for the University of Maine and spent three seasons in the Rangers’ farm system.

18 Jim Ogle, “Yankees heave sigh of relief – top prospects retained,” The Sporting News, November 2, 1968, 33.

19 The Yankee catchers doing their military service at the time included Gibbs’ backup, Frank Fernandez, Triple A catcher Lou Howell and Double A catcher Thurman Munson. Fernandez and Howell were both in the National Guard and Munson was in the Army Reserve.

20 Jim Ogle, “Kinston to Yankee Stadium, just like a dream,” The Sporting News, June 7, 1969, 15.

21 Bahnsen took a perfect game into the seventh inning, losing it on a one-out single by Jim Fregosi. Bahnsen had lost his first six decisions, as he struggled all season adjusting the lower mound, which had been lowered in response to the Year of the Pitcher in 1968.

22 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 15.

23  Jim Ogle, “Kinston to Yankee Stadium, just like a dream.”

24 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 16.

25 Jim Ogle, “Yanks’ troubles don’t include first-rate mound staff,” The Sporting News, November 22, 1969, 43.

26 Jim Ogle, “Cater facing stiff battle for Yankee berth at gateway,” The Sporting News, March 14, 1970, 16. A long-haired New York native, Pepitone was a fan favorite and a Gold Glove winner, but the Yankees had tired of his antics both on and off the field.

27 Joe Trimble, “Watch Ellis,” New York Daily News, April 2, 1970; Jim Ogle, “Slugging Ellis named Yanks’ finest rookie,” The Sporting News, April 18, 1970, 25.

28 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 21; Jim Ogle, “John Ellis gets letter from Mrs. Lou Gehrig,” The Sporting News, April 25, 1970, 26.

29 Jim Ogle, “Ellis helps to cool it at Yale demonstration,” The Sporting News, May 23, 1970, 20. During a weekend of National Guard duty in May, Ellis’s unit provided a presence in New Haven during a demonstration in support of Black Panther Bobby Seale, who was on trial in the city. When interviewed afterwards, Ellis said he would fire on demonstrators if he found himself in a situation similar to National Guard members at Kent State in Ohio, who earlier that month had fired on unarmed anti-war demonstrators, killing four people. “Look, I may be a square, but I believe in the United States and support President Nixon,” Ellis said.

30 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 24.

31 Jim Ogle, “Yankees reluctant to deal for much needed slugger,” The Sporting News, October 14, 1970, 14.

32 “P.R. rosters,” The Sporting News,” November 28, 1970: 55.

33 Jim Ogle, “Tepedino, Ellis fuel Yanks’ bid for more punch,” The Sporting News, Dec. 5, 1970: 45.

34 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 27.

35 Jim Ogle, “Three vacant spots in Yankee regular cast,” The Sporting News, February 27, 1971, 21.

36 Jim Ogle, “Steady stopper Stott cuts Yankee pitching worries,” The Sporting News, June 19, 1971: 19.

37  Marazzi, “Johnny Ellis,” Sports Collectors Digest. Ellis also gained a reputation as a bar brawler, putting him in the Yankees’ disfavor.

38 “No game today, so let’s remember a forgotten Yankee: John Ellis,” Reddit, https://www.reddit.com/r/NYYankees/comments/147mta2/no_game_today_so_lets_remember_a_forgotten_yankee/ (last accessed January 2, 2026).

39 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 31.

40 Jim Ogle, “Slipping Yanks sending choice kids to Florida. The Sporting News, October 16, 1971: 36.

41 Jim Ogle, “Blood brothers of Yank bullpen: it’s a tough fraternity to crack,” The Sporting News, July 29, 1972: 23. Ellis was the leader of the Brotherhood of the Bell, named after the telephone in the bullpen which summoned the relievers to action.

42 “Hectic week for deals – 68 players are traded,” The Sporting News, December 16, 1972, 16.

43 Joseph Durso, “Mets send Agee to Astros for pair; Yanks trade four to get Greg Nettles,” The New York Times, November 28, 1972, https://www.nytimes.com/1972/11/28/archives/mets-send-agee-to-the-astros-for-pair-yanks-trade-four-to-get-graig.html (last accessed December 12, 2025).

44  Hal Lebovitz, “Four Guys Named ‘Who?’” Cleveland Plain Dealer, November 28, 1972, 37. While Spikes was considered a “can’t miss” prospect, Kenney never lived up to the hype of being Mickey Mantle’s heir to the Yankees’ center field job and wanted to challenge the reserve clause. He played only five games for Cleveland. Spikes had several solid seasons for Cleveland but never became a star. Torres was traded to California after two mediocre seasons for the Indians.

45 Jim Ogle, “Records back Yankees in Tribe trade,” The Sporting News, January 20, 1973: 39.

46 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 31.

47 Ellis’s seven sacrifice flies in 1973 tied him for second in the American League.

48 James Herbert Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 36. Russell Schneider, “Indians open road to pave way for trading Perry,” The Sporting News, November 17, 1973: 39. The Pirates came close to trading for Ellis to be a backup catcher to Manny Sanguillen. Although Ellis didn’t win the Man of the Year Award in 1973, he did receive the Gordon Cobbledick Golden Tomahawk Award from the Wahoo Club for his outstanding contributions. The award was named after a former sports editor of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

49 Chambliss established himself as the Yankees’ regular first baseman, winning a Gold Glove and earning an All-Star appearance over the next five years before being traded to Atlanta. He also hit a walk-off home run in the 1976 ALCS to send the Yankees to the World Series.

50 Russell Schneider, “‘Fifth starter key to Indian finish’ – says Aspro,” The Sporting News, June 8, 1974: 16.

51 Russell Schneider, “Ellis earns a new label – Mr. Clutch,” The Sporting News, August 17, 1974: 11.

52 Russell Schneider, “Dick Bosman, the no-hit hero nobody wanted,” The Sporting News, August 3, 1974: 9.

53 The Angels traded Robinson to the Indians in exchange for Ken Suarez, cash and a player to be named later, who turned out to be Charlie Spikes.

54 Frank Robinson with David Anderson, “Frank: the first year,” (New York; Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1976), 19. When Robinson informally polled his players at the start of spring training on who would make the best captain, Ellis was one of the names which came up the most. But one of his coaches, Jeff Torborg, a former catcher himself, advised against it, saying Ellis would have enough on his hands as the starting catcher.

55 Frank Robinson and Barry Stainback, Extra Innings, (McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York), 1988, 23. Among the infractions Ellis was fined for was $100 for missing a hit-and-run sign, $50 for not being on the field for batting practice and $50 for signing up for early batting practice and not showing up. Later in the season he was fined $300 for missing two take signs in the same game.

56 Robinson and Anderson, “Frank,” 121.

57 Robinson and Anderson. “Frank, 129. The Angels offered Ellie Rodriguez and Andy Hassler for Ellis and John Lowenstein.

58 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 51

59 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 52

60 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 53.

61 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 53.

62 Russell Schneider, “Ellis’ tantrum the ‘last straw,’ declares F. Robby,” The Sporting News, August 9, 1975: 15.

63 Bob Fowler, “Twins tab Carew for Killer’s old role,” The Sporting News, August 16, 1975: 8. The Twins put in a waiver claim for Ellis, but withdrew it after Seghi demanded catcher Glenn Borgmann and pitcher Jim Hughes in return.

64 Russell Schneider, “Waits paying off Tribe in a hurry,” The Sporting News, August 23, 1975: 18.

65 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 54.

66 Russell Schneider, “Tribe re-acquires Fosse to help kid hurlers,” The Sporting News, December 27, 1975: 49.

67 Randy Galloway, “Corbett explains Ranger ‘madness,’” The Sporting News, March 20, 1976: 33.

68 “No game today, so let’s remember a forgotten Yankee: John Ellis,” Reddit. When Ellis saw how upset everyone looked on the field, he offered to buy all of them a round of drinks to ease their pain.

69 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 57.

70 Bob Elliott, “Remembering past base brawls,” Toronto Sun, April 22, 2015, https://torontosun.com/2015/04/22/remembering-past-base-brawls (last accessed December 17, 2025). The brawl was precipitated when Royals catcher Darrell Porter applied a hard tag on the Rangers’ Bump Wills during a rundown.

71 “Baseball player John Ellis opens real estate firm,” New London Day, February 8, 1977: 39. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1915&dat=19770208&id=FCEiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vHMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5484,1446813&hl=en (last accessed December 17, 2025).

72 Randy Galloway, “Strangers report early to Rangers,“ The Sporting News, February 3, 1979: 40.

73 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 58.

74 Randy Galloway, “Rangers get a bonus from Ellis’ clutch bat,” The Sporting News, August 4, 1979: 11.

75 Neal McCarl, “Rice most feared batter,” The Sporting News, September 22, 1979: 13.

76 Jim Reeves, “John Ellis grateful for Rangers’ offer,” The Sporting News, March 13, 1982: 48.

77 “#283 John Ellis,” 1980 Topps, May 23, 2010, https://1980toppsbaseball.blogspot.com/2010/05/283-john-ellis.html (last accessed December 18, 2025). Rangers pitcher Danny Darwin suffered a broken knuckle in the melee with the fans and was out for five weeks.

78 Jim Reeve, “Mazzilli, Parrish in Texas outfield,” The Sporting News, April 17, 1982: 22.

79 Jim Reeves, “John Ellis grateful for Rangers’ offer.” Ellis had a career WAR of 3.0.

80 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer, 65; Ellis made good use of his many hours as a bullpen catcher by reading real estate books when he could.

81 Stan Isle, “Caught on the Fly,” The Sporting News, September 12, 1988, 36: Ellis sometimes took his hobbies a little too far. In 1988, Ellis and his brother-in-law were arrested and pleaded guilty to lobster poaching in the Long Island Sound. Ellis had to forfeit his 12-foot boat, his lobstering license and pay $1,500 to a state-run program set up to discourage poaching.

82 Smith, Baseball’s Greatest Players: The story of John Ellis and the fight against cancer. 69.

83 William Sisson, “The battler,” Anglers Journal, August 2, 2016, https://anglersjournal.com/people/the-battler/ (last accessed Dec. 29, 2025); Stan Isle, “Caught on the fly,” The Sporting News, September 12, 1988: 36. The charity was originally named the Connecticut Sports Foundation. Ellis set a goal of raising $100,000 a year for 10 years, with donations being directed to families of cancer victims to help them meet travel, medical and other expenses.

84 “John Ellis in memoriam,” Connecticut Cancer Foundation, https://www.ctcancerfoundation.org/john-ellis-in-memoriam/ (last accessed December 29, 2014).

85 Jack Lautier, “Write in a big assist for ex-Yankee Ellis,” Bristol (Connecticut) Press, March 14, 1988.

86 “It all started with a promise,” Connecticut Cancer Foundation, https://www.ctcancerfoundation.org/about/ (last accessed December 24, 2025).

87 Stan Isle, “Caught on the fly.”

88 William Sisson, “The battler.”