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Rocker still the ranter
BY AUSTIN FENNER and TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
John Rocker has put his foot in his mouth again.
He's still off his rocker.
Bellyaching baseballer John Rocker has planted his cleats in his mouth again - comparing his minor-league woes with the struggles of Hall of Fame heroes Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron.
"I've taken a lot of crap from a lot of people. Probably more than anybody in the history of this sport," Rocker told ESPN.com.
"I know Hank and Jackie took a good deal of crap, but I guarantee it wasn't for six years. I just keep thinking: How much am I supposed to take?"
New Yorkers were flabbergasted yesterday by the pitcher's attempt to link the boos he gets on the mound for the Long Island Ducks to the racist taunts and threats groundbreaking greats Robinson and Aaron bore.
"He's a bum!" said Brian Ramos, a conductor on the 7 train, the subway line whose riders Rocker maligned in 1999 with an anti-New York rant about gays, foreigners and AIDS.
"Those guys were great ballplayers. They are going down in history as the greatest ballplayers. This guy is going down in history for his mouth."
Robinson, one of the most beloved figures in the annals of baseball, became the first black to play in the major leagues when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
He endured cruel slurs with incredible dignity, inspiring other black athletes like Aaron - who became a target for bigots when he broke Babe Ruth's home run record in 1974.
Some of Robinson's teammates said Rocker - a former Atlanta Brave who can't even win in the obscure Atlantic League - was wrong to invoke No. 42's name.
"He may have gone through a lot," former Brooklyn Dodger Clem Labine said of the lefty. "But what he did, he brought upon himself, and Jackie and the other guys went through 10 times that."
Carl Erskine, another ex-Brooklyn Dodger, recalled how racist crackpots would threaten to shoot Robinson if he took the field. "You can't imagine it today," he said.
By comparison, he said, the brickbats Rocker faces - and once thrived on, before his 30-year-old arm went cold - are no big deal.
"The way to break that is for him to win about 20 ballgames," said Erskine, author of a book called "What I Learned From Jackie Robinson."
Robinson's widow had no comment on Rocker's self-pity party. Aaron, who is a vice president of Rocker's old team, the Braves, could not be reached for comment.
But on the 7 line, AIDS counselor Dennis Ferris, 57, of Harlem, had no problem taking a guess at what's going on in Rocker's head these days.
"Absolutely nothing," he said.
* * *
Here's how flash-in-the-pan John Rocker's career stacks up against Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron's Hall of Fame legacies:
Jackie Robinson
Achieved: Broke the Major League Baseball color barrier in 1947; helped Brooklyn Dodgers win six pennants and a World Series.
Endured: Barred from majors during his prime; had tobacco juice spit in his face by opponents; tormented with racial epithets, death threats and boycott threats from other teams.
Hank Aaron
Achieved: Broke Babe Ruth's career home run record, ending with 755 blasts; one of the first blacks to join upper management in major leagues.
Endured: Pelted with slurs and threats after helping break a minor league color line in the '50s; deluged with hate mail, much of it racist, while he chased Ruth's record in the '70s.
John Rocker
Achieved: Suspended for 14 games for insulting gays, AIDS patients and moms during a rant about the No. 7 train. His pitching career faltered and even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays didn't want him.
Endured: Had his feelings hurt by fans and commentators who just wish he'd go away.
BY AUSTIN FENNER and TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
John Rocker has put his foot in his mouth again.
He's still off his rocker.
Bellyaching baseballer John Rocker has planted his cleats in his mouth again - comparing his minor-league woes with the struggles of Hall of Fame heroes Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron.
"I've taken a lot of crap from a lot of people. Probably more than anybody in the history of this sport," Rocker told ESPN.com.
"I know Hank and Jackie took a good deal of crap, but I guarantee it wasn't for six years. I just keep thinking: How much am I supposed to take?"
New Yorkers were flabbergasted yesterday by the pitcher's attempt to link the boos he gets on the mound for the Long Island Ducks to the racist taunts and threats groundbreaking greats Robinson and Aaron bore.
"He's a bum!" said Brian Ramos, a conductor on the 7 train, the subway line whose riders Rocker maligned in 1999 with an anti-New York rant about gays, foreigners and AIDS.
"Those guys were great ballplayers. They are going down in history as the greatest ballplayers. This guy is going down in history for his mouth."
Robinson, one of the most beloved figures in the annals of baseball, became the first black to play in the major leagues when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947.
He endured cruel slurs with incredible dignity, inspiring other black athletes like Aaron - who became a target for bigots when he broke Babe Ruth's home run record in 1974.
Some of Robinson's teammates said Rocker - a former Atlanta Brave who can't even win in the obscure Atlantic League - was wrong to invoke No. 42's name.
"He may have gone through a lot," former Brooklyn Dodger Clem Labine said of the lefty. "But what he did, he brought upon himself, and Jackie and the other guys went through 10 times that."
Carl Erskine, another ex-Brooklyn Dodger, recalled how racist crackpots would threaten to shoot Robinson if he took the field. "You can't imagine it today," he said.
By comparison, he said, the brickbats Rocker faces - and once thrived on, before his 30-year-old arm went cold - are no big deal.
"The way to break that is for him to win about 20 ballgames," said Erskine, author of a book called "What I Learned From Jackie Robinson."
Robinson's widow had no comment on Rocker's self-pity party. Aaron, who is a vice president of Rocker's old team, the Braves, could not be reached for comment.
But on the 7 line, AIDS counselor Dennis Ferris, 57, of Harlem, had no problem taking a guess at what's going on in Rocker's head these days.
"Absolutely nothing," he said.
* * *
Here's how flash-in-the-pan John Rocker's career stacks up against Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron's Hall of Fame legacies:
Jackie Robinson
Achieved: Broke the Major League Baseball color barrier in 1947; helped Brooklyn Dodgers win six pennants and a World Series.
Endured: Barred from majors during his prime; had tobacco juice spit in his face by opponents; tormented with racial epithets, death threats and boycott threats from other teams.
Hank Aaron
Achieved: Broke Babe Ruth's career home run record, ending with 755 blasts; one of the first blacks to join upper management in major leagues.
Endured: Pelted with slurs and threats after helping break a minor league color line in the '50s; deluged with hate mail, much of it racist, while he chased Ruth's record in the '70s.
John Rocker
Achieved: Suspended for 14 games for insulting gays, AIDS patients and moms during a rant about the No. 7 train. His pitching career faltered and even the Tampa Bay Devil Rays didn't want him.
Endured: Had his feelings hurt by fans and commentators who just wish he'd go away.
