Rocker’s suspension reduced to 14 days
■ After being subjected to
John Rocker's derogatory
comments, his teammates
are ready to move on
By Ronald Blum
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — John Rocker’s
suspension was cut in half to the
first 14 days of the regular season,
and he can report to the Atlanta’s
spring training camp Thursday,
The Associated Press learned to
day.
The reliever, punished for dis
paraging foreigners, homosexuals
and minorities in a magazine in
terview, could arrive in Kissim
mee, Fla., in time for workouts
Thursday, baseball sources famil
iar with the arbitrator’s decision
told the AP on the condition they
not be identified.
Shy am Das, making his first de
cision as baseball’s independent
arbitrator, also cut Rocker’s
$20,000 fine. The amount of the
fine will be reduced to $500, one
of the sources said.
There was no immediate an
nouncement by Atlanta, but a
news conference was expected at
3 p.m. EST.
“I think it’s fair,” Atlanta pitcher
Tom Glavine said. “It allows him
some of spring training to get
ready for the season.... If not, you
run the risk of John ruining his ca
reer. No one wants that. That
would be unfair.”
Rocker originally was suspend
ed for all 45 days of spring train
ing and the first 28 days of the reg
ular season by commissioner Bud
Selig.
“I think this is good all the way
around,” Atlanta reliever Rudy
Seanez said. “Everybody is ready
to get past it and move on. ”
Atlanta city councilor Derrick
Boazman, leader of a coalition of
minority groups that has called for
the Atlanta to release Rocker, was
unhappy with the decision.
“Hate and bigotry and homo
phobia and racism have a place,
evidently, and that place is in ma
jor league baseball,” he said.
In his Jan. 31 decision, Selig
said Rocker’s comments in a De
cember issue of Sports Illustrated
“offended practically every ele
ment of society.”
Rocker will wind up missing
the first 13 days of spring training
and, if no games are postponed by
weather, the first 12 games of the
regular season. Atlanta’s first
game after the suspension is
against Philadelphia at Turner
Field on April 18.
Rocker told the magazine he
would never play for a New York
team because he didn’t want to
ride a subway train “next to some
queer with AIDS.” He also
mocked foreigners and called a
Latin teammate a “fat monkey.”
Randall Simon, who believes
he was the target of Rocker’s “fat
monkey” comment, said today he
is ready to forgive.
“If he comes to me and apolo
gizes, everything will be all right,”
Simon said. “He’s one of my team
mates. Everybody makes mis
takes.”
Simon said he hopes Rocker
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in alliance with (Ol l'HOHUlH
will address the team as a whole,
as well as offer him a personal
apology.
“I think he should because of
what happened and what he said
about me,” Simon said. “He
should give me some respect. I
think I deserve an apology so we
can move on.”
Brian Jordan, another of Rock
er’s harshest critics, said Rocker
has to change his ways. Many
team members thought the reliev
er was out of line in seeking the
limelight last October.
“He has to be more mature deal
ing with certain situations and
dealing with his teammates,” Jor
dan said. “He has to leam to con
trol his anger. I think that’s a big
reason he said what he said.”
The players’ association filed a
grievance against Selig, arguing
the penalty was too great when
compared with past discipline by
the commissioner’s office. The
union repeatedly has succeeded
in convincing arbitrators to over
turn or reduce suspensions.
Selig’s original penalty was be
lieved to be the longest against a
baseball player for an action not
related to drug use since Lenny
Randle of Texas got 30 days in
March 1977 for punching his
manager, Frank Lucchesi.
The 25-year-old reliever was
heavily criticized by Atlanta civic
officials and even teammates. But
since training camp opened, some
team members have said they
would be willing to forgive Rocker
if he showed remorse through his
words and actions. Atlanta owner
Ted Turner said he deserved a sec
ond chance.
“My feeling is I would rather
deal with it now, when the out
come of the games doesn’t matter,
than have it drop on us right dab
in the middle of the season,”
Glavine said. “We still have to ex
ercise some patience. It’s already
getting old, and even if he gets
here tomorrow or Friday, it’s not
going to go away for a while.”
“John should have a chance to ex
plain himself and show that the way
he was portrayed in the article was
not his real mindset,’’said Glavine.
L.A. Lakers have shown
who is the best in NBA
By Landon Hall
The Associated Press
PORTLAND — The Los Ange
les Lakers again have the NBA’s
longest winning streak all to
themselves. And, more than ever,
they look like championship ma
terial.
The Lakers showed plenty of
grit Tuesday night in a 90-87 vic
tory over the Portland Blazers, the
team that could stand between
the Lakers and the NBA finals
this season.
“We think we’re a great defen
sive team, though people seem to
overlook us,” the Lakers’ Glen
Rice said.
The Lakers have won 12
straight games, including six vic
tories on an Eastern Conference
trip. They have held Utah to 67
points, Minnesota to 81, Charlotte
to 85 and Philadelphia to 84.
Kobe Bryant has been playing
particularly well, shutting down
the 76ers’ Allen Iverson and
Houston’s Steve Francis in the
second half.
Los Angeles is 46-11, one game
better than Portland in the Pacif
ic Division. The Lakers and Trail
Blazers were both on 11-game
winning streaks entering their
showdown.
The Lakers are positioned to
gain homecourt advantage
through the playoffs. But the
Blazers have two more home
games than the Lakers, and Port
land had won 16 straight at the
Rose Garden before Tuesday
night.
“Even after last night’s game,
we feel good that we have a great
chance of being there at the end
in June,” Portland’s Steve Smith
said.
The teams are 2-2 head-to
head, the first tiebreaker should
the they finish the season with
the same record. Portland leads
by a game in the next tiebreaker,
conference record (27-8).
Both teams have easy oppo
nents coming up: Portland’s next
six games are against teams that
have a combined .471 winning
percentage. Aside from Indiana
and Miami, L.A. plays Vancou
ver, the Los Angeles Clippers,
Golden State and Denver in the
next two weeks.
“Win or lose, it wasn’t going to
,, Threak our. season,” ShaquilJe
O’Neal said after scoring 23
points against the Blazers. “Now
that we did win, we can’t have
any more slippage. The reason we
had identical records is we had
slippage, we lost six out of nine”
after winning 16 straight from
Dec. 11 to Jan. 12.
On Tuesday night, Los Angeles
harassed the Blazers into missing
six straight shots after Scottie
Pippen’s 3-pointer gave Portland
an 85-84 lead with 3:07 to play.
The Blazers, who lead the NBA
in field-goal shooting at 47 per
cent, shot just 40 percent.
Los Angeles also shot holes in
the notion that Portland has the
league’s best reserves. The Blaz
ers’ bench usually averages about
30 points a game, but the re
serves were outscored 25-18 by
their Lakers counterparts.
Brian Shaw played 23 min
utes, getting nine points and sev
en rebounds. Robert Horry added
five rebounds, and Derek Fisher,
mired in a 30 percent shooting
slump during the streak, had five
points and two assists.
“Our bench is tired of hearing
about how great Portland’s bench
is,” Rice said.
The Blazers rallied from 11
points behind in the fourth peri
od. When Pippen hit a 27-footer,
Portland appeared headed to vic
. tory. But die Lakers clamped
down, and the Blazers’ familiar
problem of having no established
leader resulted in confusion on
the potential tying possession.
Pippen launched a tough 3
pointer and Smith flung a des
peration shot over the backboard.
“That one play didn’t lose the
game for us,” Smith said. “Before
that, there were so many un
forced turnovers.”
O’Neal hit two of four free
throws in the fourth quarter and
was 9-of-13 for the game. More
important, coach Phil Jackson
has the confidence to leave him
on the floor late, when the Hack
a-Shaq strategy is in effect.
“That never worked,” said
O’Neal, who was ejected from a
November loss in Portland for
fighting back after the Blazers’
hard fouls. “Whenever I concen
trate, I shoot them like Jerry
West. When I don’t concentrate,
I shoot them like Wilt {Chamber,
lain.]”