Shea Stadium ready to rock for Rocker
NEW YORK With a wave and no comment, John Rocker hit the streets of New York on Thursday, traveling to Shea Stadium in an umarked police van rather than the subway he maligned.
The loudmouth Atlanta Braves reliever left the team's hotel shortly before 1 p.m. EDT and got into the van, some six hours before a game with the Mets at Shea Stadium.
It was the first time Rocker and the Braves have been in New York since Rocker made disparaging comments about the city and its citizens in a Sports Illustrated article earlier this year.
About 20 cameramen, a dozen police officers and a few fans were at the midtown Manhattan hotel near Grand Central Terminal when Rocker emerged through a side door.
There were no signs or outbursts among the fans. Reporters shouted at Rocker as he ducked into the van, but the Braves' pitcher just waved and said nothing. The four-vehicle caravan then pulled away, apparently headed for the stadium about seven miles away across the East River.
He wore a white shirt and khaki pants for what has become nothing short of a nonstop civic circus in the city Rocker notoriously disparaged in a magazine article.
Rocker once promised to ride to Shea aboard the No. 7 subway train, whose route and riders were among his verbal targets. But at the urging of many officials, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani among them, those plans were abandoned.
As for the players, their focus was on the field and the key four-game series.
"We can't control the coverage of an individual. We can't worry about that," Mets catcher Mike Piazza said Wednesday.
"We have to face Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones. They have a pretty good ball club. We can't worry about one guy who might or might not get into the game. If he does, we'll try to score runs off him."
This weekend's Braves-Mets series - their first since last year's thrilling NLCS - would still be big news with first place in the NL East on the line. It just wouldn't be a media circus.
"I don't think anybody has asked any questions about the game," Mets third baseman Robin Ventura said. "It's mostly been about him coming here and we're getting tired of answering it. This is an important series."
The Mets tried to maintain that this was a typical series. There was nothing typical about the preparations.
Without Rocker, there wouldn't be 600 police officers at Shea Stadium for a typical Atlanta-New York series - and the detail at the Grand Hyatt hotel.
The hotel scene was routine until midday Thursday, when police began erecting barricades outside a side entrance, preparing for Rocker to leave for the ballpark.
About 50 people gathered outside the hotel. Inside, the lobby seemed no different than any other day.
Without Rocker, there wouldn't be more than 300 media members in town tracking Rocker's every move. There wouldn't be a protective fence and awning over the visitor's bullpen and special rules limiting alcohol sales.
And there wouldn't be all these nagging questions for the players to answer.
"It's something that you just don't want to keep talking about," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "This has been going on too long. I guess everybody's pointing toward New York, and I guess that's when it will end. I don't know. You'd think enough's enough."
Commissioner Bud Selig, whose office has been working side-by-side with the Mets and the police to assure Rocker's safety, hopes New York fans feel the same way.
"Distractions never help us," he said at Coors Field in Denver. "You know the sport is doing well when we talk about stuff going on the field. I am comfortable where we are.
"What John does or doesn't do is now up to him. We have done everything that we can do, and frankly, I just hope the focus is on the field."
When the Braves arrived at their hotel at about 2 a.m., they were sneaked in through a side entrance away from a handful of fans, police and media. Major league security personnel accompanied the team.
The Mets were preparing in their own way.
Mets reliever Turk Wendell has a police riot gear helmet - "it's safe from batteries" - and outfielder Benny Agbayani said he wouldn't feel safe if he was Rocker's teammate.
David Howard, the Mets senior vice president who is in charge of Rocker security, said the team is taking a "no-tolerance" policy toward unruly fans. Not that the Braves aren't worried.
"I don't know if the other players talk about it but, yeah, that's something we've got to be concerned about," catcher Javy Lopez said.
When these two teams last left each other, Rocker was more of an amusing loudmouth who called Mets fans a "tired act" than an offensive one who insulted minorities, gays and foreigners in an interview with Sports Illustrated.
Rocker was far from the most controversial figure after the teams completed two of the most dramatic back-to-back playoff games in memory.
That honor was shared by New York's Rickey Henderson and Bobby Bonilla, who were playing cards in the clubhouse when Kenny Rogers walked in the winning run in the 11th inning of Game 6 to send Atlanta to the World Series and end New York's dream of a Subway Series.
Bonilla, now with the Braves, is sure to receive a harsh greeting, but one that pales to what Rocker will likely get. Fans already started derogatory chants during Tuesday night's game against Florida, and a fan with purple hair held up a sign saying "We want the punk Rocker" during batting practice Wednesday.
"He's going to pay for what he did," Agbayani said. "He'll definitely get yelled at. Who knows what's going to happen. I'm sure the fans here will surprise me."
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