In a Crowd of Braves, Rocker Stands Alone
MONTREAL, June 27 -- John Rocker strolled into the visiting clubhouse at Olympic Stadium by himself this afternoon, shouted to a few teammates and did not receive much of a response. Rocker approached the picnic table where a few Atlanta Braves were playing cards and tossed a piece of crumpled paper at the strength coach. It hit the coach, who looked up at Rocker and then returned to studying his cards.
Rocker was here, but he was not really here. Rocker is an important part of the Braves when they are playing baseball, but he is often shunned when they are doing anything else. Rocker and the tentative Braves will travel to Shea Stadium to play the Mets on Thursday in a series that has been greatly anticipated and hyped because of the disparaging remarks Rocker uttered six months ago.
Today, Rocker did not want to discuss anything. Especially not his anti-New York diatribe to Sports Illustrated, in which he said that he could never live in New York because riding the No. 7 train was like riding through Beirut. Rocker also made derogatory comments about immigrants, gays, young mothers, Asian-American women, ex-convicts and even people with purple hair, causing him to be deemed a racist by some and helping create a tense and rowdy atmosphere in New York this week.
"I got burned by you guys too many times," Rocker told reporters while he sat alone by his locker.
When a dozen reporters persisted in asking questions, Rocker said he "was not going to say another word" and then asked them to find another spot to stand in the clubhouse. He pulled on his socks and stared away from reporters while he batted away questions.
"If you would exit my locker space," he said, "I would greatly appreciate it."
The reporters drifted off. If only Rocker could make this problem that he caused vanish as quickly. Rocker reignited the controversy about his comments when he confronted Jeff Pearlman, who wrote the article, earlier this month and again when he recently told Baseball Weekly that he would ride the No. 7 train in New York. Manager Bobby Cox said the team has counseled Rocker about not riding the subway.
"I think they've told him that already," Cox said.
Frank Wren, the assistant general manager, would not confirm that the Braves have instructed Rocker about avoiding the subway, but said the team feels "it's probably not a great idea."
Will Rocker listen to the Braves?
"We'll see," Wren said.
Javier Lopez smiled when asked if Rocker would actually purchase a token and get on the subway before he said: "He's not going to take the train. You got plenty of taxis in New York, or the bus."
Lopez looked at the dozen reporters surrounding him, a total that will increase to as many as 300 for the series against the Mets, and said he was happy to answer questions here because he will not discuss Rocker's situation in New York. Lopez said that no players would answer questions about Rocker when the team reaches New York. "That's my opinion," Lopez said. "I think that's everyone's opinion."
While Wren said the Braves have not made silence a club mandate, he added that the club would not intervene if the players decline to comment on Rocker. The focus should be about the first-place team playing the second-place team and not on Rocker, Wren said.
"I think they mirror what we feel, that this weekend is about baseball," Wren said before the Braves' 6-4 loss to the Expos, in which Rocker did not appear. "It's about a big series in the National League East. That's the way we hope it comes off."
The Mets and Major League Baseball are also hopeful that the series will be played without any incident and they have taken increased security measures. Although the Mets have added tall fences around the left field bullpen and will boost the number of police officers from 60 to at least 600, Lopez admitted that he would be worried about standing next to Rocker at Shea.
"Probably," Lopez said. "I guess that's something we all have to be concerned with if we're going to be around him."
Rocker was suspended for two weeks before the season began and was even demoted to Class AAA Richmond on June 5 because he severely struggled with his control. After Rudy Seanez injured his right forearm, the Braves recalled the 25-year-old Rocker. Lopez has noticed that Rocker, who has struck out 35 batters while walking 33 in 22 innings and has 12 saves, concentrates more on the mound. But Lopez interestingly added, "He remains the same John Rocker."
Cox said he would not manage any differently at Shea, no matter how rowdy it gets, and that Rocker will be used as a closer if he is throwing well. While Cox said Rocker is doing pretty good for someone who is not accustomed to keeping his mouth shut, the manager was optimistic that there will be less attention on Rocker after the first meeting with the Mets since the National League Championship Series ended last year.
"You would think enough is enough," Cox said. "Even the president having affairs and everything else, people quit talking about it."
Some of the Braves did not want to discuss Rocker's situation, but Reggie Sanders politely agreed to answer a couple of questions two minutes before the Braves began a meeting. Yes, the series with the Mets will be hectic and there will be distractions, he said. Sanders was speaking softly until he was asked if he would ever ride the No. 7 train with Rocker, which caused his voice to get sturdier as he emphatically replied no.
"It's going to be tough," Sanders said, "but we'll deal with it the best way we can."
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