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Gone huntin' Rocker leaves for Arkansas after one day of tests
Posted: Sunday January 09, 2000 09:03 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- John Rocker would have faced immediate discipline from baseball had the Atlanta Braves reliever not agreed to undergo psychological testing over his disparaging comments about minorities. Commissioner Bud Selig said earlier this week that he would await the evaluation results before deciding on any discipline. Rocker had the right to refuse the testing, which began Friday in Baltimore. But The New York Times, citing unidentified baseball officials, reported that had Rocker refused the testing, Selig would have issued immediate measures. Rocker met with Dr. Joel Solomon and Dr. Robert Millman, consultants to baseball who have been mutually approved by the Major League Baseball Players Association and the commissioner's office, according to the newspaper.
It is unclear whether doctors will recommend additional testing. Meanwhile, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, an outspoken critic of Rocker, joked about a fictional meeting between the pitcher and Sigmund Freud. "Can you imagine? He'd walk in to see Sigmund and Sigmund would say, 'Vell, John, now sit down. I vant to talk to you about your deep psychological problems,'" Giuliani said Friday on his radio show in a thick German accent. "And then Rocker would go nuts. He'd start throwing baseballs at him or something." Last month, 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 said, "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 the driving skills of Asian women and insulted single mothers. Rocker apologized and said he was not a racist. 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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