John Rocker was the ENEMY. as a Yankees fan back in the days he played against my team in the WS.
Didn’t hate him though. Kind of thought his game face was a bit nuts (up there with Al Hrabosky, “ The Mad Hungarian”). Also thought perhaps he was not smart enough to realize that if you say stuff like:
“Imagine having to take the 7-train to (Shea Stadium) looking like you’re riding through Beirut, next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It’s depressing.”
You will get skewered in the media. Actually agree with him pretty much, but unless one has the wit and stamina to take on the MSM and their Marxist overlords, one would do best to choose ones words with more care or be prepared to make every pitching outing either good or bad, to be looked through the ‘he’s a racist/sexist/homophobe’ lens, even in the sports pages
You make an excellent point about having stamina, wit and I would say a support system to take on the mass media and the politically correct people who control this country. I think Sarah Palin has survived personally because she has all three.
While as a NYer I have no problem with what Rocker said (some is true), his biggest mis-hit, I think, was saying that Times Square is loaded with foreigners. Most of the people milling around like idiots seem to be American tourists. (What’s with the excitement of sitting in a chair in the middle of Broadway???)