Whatever happened to MLB closer John Rocker? Outspoken social critic who pitched for the Atlanta Braves

Surprisingly, John Rocker only pitched in the major leagues for six seasons, despite competing in some high-profile games in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It seemed like he had a bright future as a viable end of game option at best, and as a lefty specialist at worst. However, Rocker’s personality rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. All statistics sourced from Baseball Reference.

John Rocker was born in Statesboro, Georgia, but grew up in Macon. He was described as being a dedicated Christian, and having a classic boyhood dream of one day pitching in the major leagues for his hometown team, according to National Today.

He pitched for First Presbyterian Day School in high school, and the Atlanta Braves would select him in the 18^th round of the 1993 MLB Draft.

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Despite not being that high of a draft pick, Rocker was slowly becoming another one of the Braves pitchers who had a great arm and knew how to stifle hitters.

It took him a few years, but Rocker would make the major leagues after five years. Atlanta would need to trust him in high-leverage situations, as they perennially made the postseason.

Rocker’s postseason resume was stellar throughout his time in Atlanta. He never gave up an earned run in over 19 innings. He was also asked to finish regular season games for the Braves, as he compiled 83 saves during his tenure with the organization.

Rocker never made it to the All-Star team, but was one of the most valuable relievers in MLB.

A profile about John Rocker was released in Sports Illustrated in December 1999, and it arguably changed the course of his career. In the piece, Rocker made harsh statements about the LGBT community, teenage motherhood and various ethnic groups.

He said that he would never play in New York because someone could walk an entire block and not hear a word of English being spoken.

It’s not hard to imagine what type of reaction Rocker faced from New Yorkers and throughout the country after the piece ran. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said that the Atlanta pitcher managed to offend nearly every element of society, according to ESPN.

Rocker also had unsavory comments for an African American teammate on the Braves, Randall Simon. Simon told Morris News Service that Rocker lied about his strong connection to Latin and African American players on the Braves.

It was a slippery slope for MLB to navigate, but they ended up suspending Rocker for the first month of the 2000 season. The relief pitcher formally apologized for his hurtful words, but the damage was already done.

He received venomous receptions from the fans in New York, and in other ballparks throughout the United States.

Rocker pitched pretty well despite the vitriol directed towards him in the 2000 season. However, Atlanta decided to trade him to the Cleveland Indians in the middle of the 2001 campaign. The train went off the rails after that, as Rocker’s performance in Cleveland, with the Texas Rangers in 2002 and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2003 fell off a cliff.

Rocker was out of baseball after pitching in Tampa Bay for a couple of games, but was still only 28 years old. He attempted to get back to the major leagues by ironically pitching for the Long Island Ducks, based in New York. The Ducks were an independent league baseball team, which was a long way away from the bright lights of the big leagues.

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These days, Rocker generally prefers to spend his time out of the spotlight, which makes sense. His social media account indicates that he is the happiest spending time in the woods in nature. He does make some allusions to his heyday as a pitcher with the Braves, and appears to have the desire to auction off some of his memorabilia from that time.