Staff Editorial

Editorial Cartoon

Marcus Cardenas

This article is in defense of John Rocker, a pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. For those of you who responded indifferently to the previous sentence or the name therein, let me describe the situation.

Rocker is -- in the meantime anyway -- the closer for the Atlanta Braves. During a playoff series against the New York Mets last season, he was introduced to the national spotlight, and the nation was introduced to Rocker. While he whizzed 97-mph fastballs by the Mets, Mets' fans whizzed whatever they could find at him, including batteries, beer and spit.

In a recent Sports Illustrated article, Rocker was quoted as saying some things that many people found offensive, to put it nicely. He made sure not to leave anyone out of his path of insults. Gays, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, immigrants and children; they're all there. He even described a black teammate as a "fat monkey."

When the article was published, boy did people get upset. Action had to be taken, some screamed. And so Bud Selig, Major League Baseball's commish, did do something. He required that Rocker get a psychological examination, to which Rocker agreed.

In an even more recent interview with ESPN, Rocker claimed that his words were twisted and taken out of context. He said he has been around Latinos and such throughout his career and has never had any problems with them.

Some teammates agreed with him. Andruw Jones, one of Rocker's minority teammates, stayed at Rocker's home and lived with his family while Jones was in the minor leagues (two others, like pitcher Bruce Chen, did as well). Chen is another defender, claiming he and Rocker have had a close friendship. So for the time being, everyone believed that the media once again sacrificed cake for frosting.

Now, in an even more recent interview with Morris News Service, Rocker's teammate Randall Simon is calling Rocker a liar. Simon says that he knows Rocker was describing him as a fat monkey, and although Rocker insists he was just joking with a teammate like he always does, Simon claims that they have never joked like that, and added that if "he said that ('fat monkey' remark) to my face, I'd tear him up."

Hank Aaron, a black baseball hall-of-famer with the Braves, who received numerous death threats and hate mail as he chased and surpassed Babe Ruth's career home run total, was outraged and disgusted by Rocker's statements in the magazine article. Even his later explanation did not satisfy Aaron.

Aaron and Rocker arranged for a meeting and had a private conversation for about an hour. Aaron called it "a good, good conversation" and added, "I didn't feel this way before, but I was well pleased with the way John handled himself."

So there it is, in its most recent entirety. I have to side with Rocker on this one. Anyone subject to the press every day of their lives is going to have to be careful. I'd rather know what someone's thinking than to hear benign, stale, false rhetoric that's regurgitated daily by athletes.

Besides, the man can pitch. In an industry where money equals success and wins equal money and good pitching equals wins, Rocker and his opinions will just have to be respected. Not accepted, but just respected, twisted or otherwise.