finalyear birth_place debutyear finaldate statvalue position finalteam statlabel debutdate birth_date article_title debutteam name throws
1981 new london , connecticut 1969 october 3 .262 69 391 first baseman / catcher texas rangers batting average home runs runs batted in may 17 21 august 1948 john ellis -lrb- baseball -rrb-
 new york yankees john ellis right
john ellis -lrb- baseball -rrb-

john charles ellis -lrb- born august 21 , 1948 -rrb- is a former professional baseball player who played first base and catcher in the major leagues from 1969 to 1981 .
he played for the new york yankees , cleveland indians , and texas rangers .
he was a standout football and baseball player at new london high school .
after hitting .333 at triple a , the yankees called him up in 1969 .
in 1971 he was named a topps all-star rookie .
after being traded for graig nettles , he became the first dh in cleveland indians history in 1973 .
ellis had his best season in 1974 , when he hit .285 -lrb- 22nd in the al -rrb- , had a slugging percentage of .421 -lrb- 23rd in the al -rrb- , 23 doubles -lrb- 25th in al -rrb- , and 64 rbis in only 128 games .
that year , ellis caught dick bosman 's no-hitter on july 19 .
while with the indians , he was given the nickname `` moose '' by red sox announcer ken coleman .
in the mid-1970s , ellis joined the spalding sporting goods advisory staff and had a signature catcher 's mitt sold in retail stores .
in 1987 he founded the connecticut sports foundation against cancer .
the foundation has an annual dinner at the mohegan sun casino in uncasville , ct each year .
recent attendees have included roger clemens and don mattingly .
his son , john j. ellis , was a baseball standout and played at the university of maine - orono and in the texas rangers system for three seasons .
his son also competed for the eastern tides of the new england collegiate baseball league in 1994 .
