John Rocker facts for kids

John Loy Rocker (born October 17, 1974) is an American former professional baseball relief pitcher who played six seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his major league debut in 1998 with the Atlanta Braves, for whom he played parts of four seasons. He was later a member of the Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers, and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He last played professionally for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in 2005.

Rocker received notoriety during his career for making controversial statements, which began with a 1999 Sports Illustrated interview and continued after his retirement. Following the conclusion of his baseball career, Rocker competed on Survivor: San Juan del Sur with girlfriend Julie McGee, placing 16th.

Baseball career

In high school, he was a pitcher for First Presbyterian Day School in Macon, Georgia. He threw three no-hitters during his high-school career. He initially committed to play college baseball for the Georgia Bulldogs. The Atlanta Braves selected Rocker in the 18th round (516th overall) of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft.

In 1998, the Braves promoted Rocker to the major leagues. In his first season in the major leagues, he was 1–3 with a 2.13 ERA in 38 innings pitched. The following year, an injury put Atlanta closer Kerry Ligtenberg on the disabled list, moving Rocker into the role of closer, where he was 4–5 with 38 saves and a 2.49 ERA. In 2000, he was 1–2 with 24 saves, posting a 2.89 ERA, but in June 2000, Rocker was demoted after threatening a reporter.

Rocker started to receive intense taunting from opposing teams' fans due to his negative behavior, and his pitching performance began to decline. On June 22, 2001, Rocker, along with minor-league infielder Troy Cameron (Atlanta's first-round draft pick in 1997), was traded to the Cleveland Indians for right-handed relievers Steve Karsay and Steve Reed, along with cash. In Cleveland, his record that year was 3–7 with a 5.45 ERA and four saves. Rocker pitched in the ALDS against the Seattle Mariners. After the season, the Indians traded him to the Texas Rangers for pitcher David Elder. In Texas, he refused designation to the minor leagues. In 2002, he again struggled at 2–3 with a 6.66 ERA and was released. In 2003, Rocker signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays but was released after two appearances and an ERA of 9.00.

He took the 2004 season off to recover from surgery on his left shoulder. In 2005, he signed with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. In April 2005, he asked New Yorkers to "bury the hatchet." After going 0–2 with a 6.50 ERA in 23 games, he was released on June 27, 2005.

Movie and television appearances

The comments made by Rocker about New York City would be lampooned by the MTV animated series Celebrity Deathmatch in their episode "Celebrity Deathmatch: North vs. South"; befitting the theme, his opponent was New York Yankees icon Derek Jeter, though he would not portray himself in the episode, being impersonated by a worker on the show, Sean Lynch.

Rocker made his screen-acting debut in the 2002 horror comedy The Greenskeeper as a murderous golf-club groundskeeper.

In 2006, Rocker appeared on the Spike TV network's Pros vs. Joes, a program that pits retired professional athletes against amateurs.

In August 2014 it was announced that Rocker would appear on the 29th season of the competitive reality series Survivor alongside his girlfriend Julie McGee. He was the third person voted out, finishing in 16th place after he became the center of negative attention. He was immediately recognized by some of the other players who were aware of his controversial statements. He was voted out of the game with an immunity idol in his pocket on Day 8. McGee made it to the merge phase of the game, but quit in 12th place after suffering an emotional breakdown, citing the negativity surrounding Rocker earlier in the game as one of the multiple reasons that she decided to withdraw from the competition.

Though not directly based on Rocker, Danny McBride said that Kenny Powers, the main protagonist of the HBO series Eastbound and Down that the pitcher was "more or less an inspiration" for the character.

Other media activity

In December 2011, Rocker released his autobiography, Scars and Strikes. As of 2012, he writes a column for WorldNetDaily, a conservative political site.

See also

• Tampa Bay Rays all-time roster
• List of Major League Baseball players named in the Mitchell Report