The Atlanta Braves most reviled reliever John Rocker has caught our attention again with a Tweet (or an X?) I dunno…
Warning: This article includes Tweets from the controversial John Rocker in which he uses foul language. You’ve been warned. If you proceed past the line below and see a bad word, you are not allowed to be offended.
Rocker is infamous for his ill-advised interview with Sports Illustrated in 1999. In the interview, Rocker elaborated on his disdain for the people of New York City. In fact, Rocker topped our list of the 8 Most Hated Atlanta Braves.
The following was quoted from a 1999 ESPN.com article titled MLB – Aaron among those disgusted with Rocker’s slurs.
“Imagine having to take the (No.) 7 train to (Shea Stadium) looking like you’re (in) Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It’s depressing.”
“The biggest thing I don’t like about New York are the foreigners,” the 25-year-old Georgia native said. “You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?”
Rocker apologized for his statements and faced a tense situation when he returned to New York in the 2000 season for the first time since the article’s publication.
“I want everybody to understand that my emotions fuel my competitive desire,” Rocker said. “They are a source of energy for me. However, I have let my emotions get the best of my judgment.”
Rocker said he fully intends “to learn from this experience.”
Fast forward to 2025
Rocker also made headlines around the Super Bowl in New Orleans when he nearly came to blows with Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ father, Pat Mahomes Sr. The elder Mahomes used to pitch in the major leagues, including some time with the Mets in 1999 and 2000, the same years the Rocker controversy exploded.
Through the first three years of his career, Rocker was spectacular. Rocker rocked a 2.53 ERA over his first 180 games with a crazy K/9 IP rate of 12.3.
For a man who ardently supports right-wing government and opposes public handouts, he sure gave away a lot of free passes. Rocker allowed 5.9 walks per nine innings over those first three years, including an atrocious 8.2 walks per nine in the 2000 season (the year following the SI article).
In the fallout of the controversial comments, Atlanta Braves legendary pitching coach Leo Mazzone spoke prophetically about Rocker’s future.
“Baseball’s a very humbling game. The first thing I think about is after I hear about this, he’s going to go out and blow himself out,” Mazzone said.
“Something’s going to go wrong now with his career. And you watch it, it’ll end up going straight down the tubes.”
Rocker played just three more years following that 2000 season. The Braves traded him during the 2001 season. In all, he played for four different teams over three seasons between 2001-2003. His ERA got progressively worse.
In 2003, he pitched one year with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays but only logged one inning. His last significant year was 2002 with the Texas Rangers. Rocker finished with a 6.66 ERA over 24.1 innings.
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