COLUMN: The new face of racism

From Jeremy Reiss', "Vegas, Baby," Fall '00 From Jeremy Reiss', "Vegas, Baby," Fall '00Imagine, if you will, you're a 25-year-old kid, traveling around the country from city to city, staying in the fanciest hotels, driving fancy cars, appearing regularly on national television. That is exactly how Braves relief pitcher John Rocker's life was playing out just a month ago. But for the near future at least, Rocker may have thrown it all away. In an issue of Sports Illustrated last month, the tall left-handed closer made incendiary comments against immigrants in general and specific groups such as "Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there." Careful not to exclude anyone, Rocker also insulted homosexuals and teen mothers, and even referred to an African-American teammate as a "fat monkey." Rocker has unleashed his brash temper before, you may recall. During the 1999 National League playoffs against the New York Mets, he publicly criticized New York for being, basically, a big and crowded city and the Mets fans for being loud and obnoxious. The fans pegged Rocker with batteries in his next appearance. But there seems little explanation as to why Rocker willingly chose to do the interview with SI and publicly run his mouth in a way that has demoted his status from Mets arch-nemesis to bigoted villain -- even in his own clubhouse. Was it stupidity? Perhaps. The arrogance of a young pitcher who thought he could do no wrong? Probably. But there seems to be a much scarier reason for why Rocker said what he did: He truly believes it. And he isn't afraid to say so. And despite the fact that he publicly apologized for his comments in an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons last week, Rocker may have lost his credibility with the league, the general public and his teammates. Rocker would like us to believe, for instance, that he isn't a racist and was simply angry at New York fans. But it's hard to believe that he simply lost his cool in the presence of a reporter. Teammate Randall Simon, the Braves first baseman, has already spoken out since the ESPN interview, saying Rocker lied about the meaning of the "fat monkey" comment to cover himself. Simon also told ESPN that the pitcher has no relationship with any of the Braves' black or Latino players. It would be naive to say that racism does not exist in even the most cosmopolitan of cities. But while it would not be fair to stereotype rural Southerners, Rocker certainly is not unique in his perception of cities like N.Y. and ignorance of racial and ethnic groups. But it is because Rocker is a baseball player that his comments are all the more disheartening. That sharing the playing field with such a diverse group of athletes couldn't open Rocker's mind is the real tragedy here. For, while racism may have persisted, what was sacred about sports was that they have, for decades, bridged the gap between races and ethnicities. In many ways, the playing fields have been a place where ethnicity and race become irrelevant. Baseball, the most international of the major sports leagues, has been the prime example. Nothing could exemplify that better than the images of 1998's historic home run race, with an American, Mark McGwire, and a Dominican, Sammy Sosa, hugging and smiling their way toward baseball immortality -- and carrying a nation on their shoulders for the ride. Worst of all, Rocker has undermined the spirit of the game that Sosa, Jackie Robinson and others helped create. He has caused us to question whether other, less vocal players feel the same way. And he has made a mockery of the very diversity that has popularized -- and recently repopularized -- his own sport. Already, the league forced Rocker to undergo psychological testing. A harsh punishment from the commissioner may follow. But the Braves can make a strong statement by cutting Rocker, one of the key players in their World Series run last year. Still, the reality is that even if baseball comes down hard on Rocker, he'll likely end up back in the game. History has shown that even a convicted rapist, such as boxer Mike Tyson, can be allowed back into the ring. Isn't it reasonable to assume that a team will need Rocker's blazing fastball more than it will care about his views? And so, the arrogant left-hander who thought he was free from accountability might, in fact, have the last laugh, solely because he can strike people out. That is, if he can share a locker room with the foreigners on whatever team he joins.