Athletes - John Rocker

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	Athletes - John Rocker

John Loy Rocker (born October 17 1974) is an American Major League Baseball relief pitcher, who played the better-known part of his career in 3 1/2 seasons with the Atlanta Braves, before being traded to the Cleveland Indians. He later played with the Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He is a native of Macon, Georgia and currently resides in Atlanta.

Early career

Rocker graduated from Presbyterian Day High School in Macon, Georgia, in 1993; he threw three no-hitters during high school. He was soon drafted by the Atlanta Braves. He started showing wild antics similar to those of Mark Fidrych from the beginning of his career. After a rocky minor league career - in his fourth season (1997), he was still at Double-A Greenville - he was converted into a reliever.

This worked well for him. The next year, he was promoted to the major-league club and ended up becoming the closer after an injury to Kerry Ligtenberg. He finished the 1998 season with an earned run average of 2.13 in 38 innings pitched.

1999 proved to be Rocker's best year. After becoming the Braves' full-time closer, he converted 38 saves and had an ERA of 2.49 in 74 games. It was at this point that he was starting to be seen by many sportswriters as one of the next great closers in baseball.

Controversy

While at his peak as Atlanta's closer, the former Mercer College star and Georgia native was heavily criticized for making statements that were considered racist, homophobic and sexist. Speaking of New York City, Rocker told Sports Illustrated in January 2000: "It's the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark, looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing." (Rocker's feud with New York City began in earnest during the 1999 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets, during which he would openly bait and taunt Mets fans.) Also during the interview (conducted while driving to a game in Atlanta), he spat on a Georgia 400 toll machine and mocked Asian women.

Although Rocker later apologized after speaking with Hank Aaron and Andrew Young, he later made additional controversial comments. For his comments, he was suspended without pay for 14 games.

During the debacle, on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno has had guests take baseball bats and whack a John Rocker dummy. Saturday Night Live lampooned the affair by having a skit about Rocker, much to the delight of the New York City crowd that it was filmed before.

Rocker's Return to NYC

On June 27th, 2000, Rocker appeared in front of 46,998 fans at Shea Stadium for the first time since making the remarks. Over 700 police officers were summoned for the game (usually 60 are summoned) and 300 press passes were given out. A limit on beer sales was imposed. A special protective cover was erected over the Braves' bullpen in left field. During batting practice, fans were barred from sitting in the first four rows behind the Braves' dugout. A videotaped apology from Rocker was shown on Shea Stadium's 26-foot-tall screen in left-center field before the start of the game between the Mets and the Braves. The video was loudly booed. Signs stating "NYC Says No to RocKKKer" and "Rocker's a Bigot" could be seen throughout Shea.

In the 8th inning, Rocker came in to replace Jason Marquis on the mound. He was loudly booed and some objects were thrown, but nothing got out of hand. Rocker struck out Robin Ventura, retired Todd Zeile on a grounder to short, and got Jay Payton to ground out to third. The Braves went on to win, 6-4. Rocker left the stadium a half-hour after the rest of the team in a black van trailed by three security vehicles.

Post-controversy

At first Atlanta Braves fans were willing to support him. However, Rocker received intense taunting from opposing teams' fans, and continued to receive abuse from New York Mets fans. His pitching performance declined. Rocker was traded to the Cleveland Indians, and later to the Texas Rangers. In 2003, he played two games for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays before being released.

Rocker made his screen debut in the 2002 horror comedy The Greenskeeper as a murderous golf-club groundskeeper.

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Athletes - John Rocker

Early career

Controversy

Rocker's Return to NYC

Post-controversy

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