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'A hate-filled heart' Rocker's critics say psychological testing won't help
Posted: Friday January 07, 2000 08:24 PM
ATLANTA (AP) -- John Rocker's critics again demanded his release Friday, saying Major League Baseball-mandated psychological tests won't cure his "hate-filled heart." They said the Atlanta Braves relief pitcher's tirade against immigrants, minorities and gays was outright bigotry -- not an off-the-cuff mistake or mental disorder. "John Rocker is not crazy," Michael Langford, president of Atlanta's United Youth-Adult Conference, told reporters. "His hateful remarks are not a result of what is in his head but rather a result of a hate-filled heart." Langford said handling Rocker's remarks by ordering psychological tests is like "treating a cancer with an aspirin."
Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said he fears for Rocker's safety. "I wouldn't want to be in the same county with him," Jones said Friday on Atlanta radio station WSB-AM. "You don't come out and say things like that without some people taking some extreme objection." Jones and Braves pitcher Tom Glavine said separately Friday that Rocker would have a chance to redeem himself with his teammates -- but only if he shows drastic changes in attitude. "If there's any way possible that he can make amends with the guys in the clubhouse that he's obviously offended, and that includes everybody, then you go from there," Glavine said in a television interview Friday. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig on Thursday ordered Rocker to undergo a psychological evaluation and said he will await the results before deciding on any disciplinary action. Selig called Rocker's remarks, published in Sports Illustrated last month, "reprehensible and completely inexcusable." But the decision was not nearly enough for leaders of about 20 advocacy groups who staged a protest Friday morning outside Turner Field in Atlanta. They said nothing short of Rocker's release by the Braves would satisfy them. "That's the kind of player we don't need in this city," said Atlanta City Councilman Derrick Boazman, who wrote a resolution condemning Rocker's remarks that the council passed Monday. Rocker's father said the outcry against his son has been far too harsh. "They're saying worse things about John than they did about Timothy McVeigh," Jake Rocker said in Friday editions of The Macon Telegraph. "It's the worst assassination against a young man that I've ever seen. He needs to be reprimanded, needs to be watched closely, but he needs to be given a second chance." Rocker told Sports Illustrated he would never play for a New York team because he didn't want to ride a train "next to some queer with AIDS." He also bashed immigrants, saying, "I'm not a very big fan of foreigners. ... How the hell did they get in this country?" He called a black teammate "a fat monkey," mocked Asian women's driving and insulted single mothers. Rocker later apologized and said he was not a racist. His agent, Randy Hendricks, said Thursday the reliever would have no comment on baseball's decision. Braves third baseman Chipper Jones said Rocker's teammates will allow him to redeem himself -- but only if he shows "drastic changes" in his attitude. In an interview Friday on Atlanta's WSB-AM, Jones said he fears for his teammate's safety. "I wouldn't want to be in the same county with him," third baseman Chipper Jones said. "You don't come out and say things like that without some people taking some extreme objection." Braves president Stan Kasten said Thursday that Rocker deserved a chance to repair his relations with the team and Braves fans. He and Braves general manager John Schuerholz said they had spoken with Rocker and that the reliever seemed genuinely remorseful. But the team's reaction struck Rocker's critics as hollow. "He knew exactly what he was saying," said Jeff Graham, executive director of Atlanta's AIDS Survival Project. "This was the exact image that Mr. Rocker hoped to portray." The rally at Turner Field drew about 40 people Friday morning, mostly leaders of Atlanta civic groups representing Asian-Americans, blacks, Hispanics, gays, Christians and AIDS activists. "We will not tolerate the intolerance of this ignorant redneck from down south Georgia," said the Rev. Gerald Durley of Concerned Black Clergy. Langford said the groups would stage a fans' boycott if further action is not taken before baseball season begins in April. Rocker, 25, saved 37 games for the Braves last year. He created a personal rivalry with the city of New York during the NL Championship Series, calling Mets fans "stupid" and accusing them of throwing batteries and insulting his mother.
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