Rocker on Bonds: 'They're basically ganging up on him'

As hitters bulked up to Hulk Hogan-like physiques during the late 1990s, former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker suspected they were using more than just protein shakes and weights.

“But at that point and time the pitchers were doing the same thing the hitters were doing,” Rocker said of alleged rampant steroid use among baseball players. “There may have been people cheating but the opportunity to cheat was there for everybody. So in retrospect, the field was technically level.”

Rocker was in Dalton on Monday to play in the Corterra/Dalton Golf and Country Club Roman Open charity golf tournament. Since retiring from baseball last year because of shoulder problems, Rocker has invested in real estate developments throughout Georgia and Florida. He and Whitfield County resident Karen Horne are developing a 72-acre subdivision in Varnell near Georgia Highway 2 called Rockingham.

Eric Simmons, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Kinard Realty in Dalton, grew up with Rocker in Macon. Simmons knew Horne through family friends and put the two in contact. Rocker now lives in Dunwoody.

Rocker’s group shot a 34-35-69 and finished eight shots behind the flight winner.

Now as Barry Bonds sits one home run from tying Babe Ruth for second on the all-time home run list behind Hank Aaron’s 755, allegations of steroid and other performance-enhancing drug use linger. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Bonds perjured himself in front of a federal grand jury while testifying in the BALCO case and the book “Game of Shadows” details Bonds’ alleged steroid use.

But Rocker doesn’t think the current records are tainted, nor does he believe any of Bonds’ statistics should carry an asterisk. In fact, he thinks the media should leave Bonds alone.

“They’re basically just ganging up on him,” Rocker said. “You can accuse him, and people who have never done steroids call themselves experts and say, ‘I know Barry did this, I know Barry did that.’”

Rocker considers the 41-year-old slugger one of the five best hitters ever and said to reach that level as a hitter takes more than just steroids.

“You can be as big and strong as you want, but you still have to hit them,” Rocker said. “You can walk into any gym in America and see these beefed-up, steroided-up guys and they’re not hitting 500 home runs.”

Increased scoring and mammoth home runs helped revive interest in the national pastime after the player strike in 1994. The pursuit by Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa of Roger Maris’ single-season home run record in 1998 made “fans love the game again,” Rocker said.

“It made a better game for the fans, the pitchers threw harder, the hitters hit it farther,” Rocker said. “Maybe he (Bonds) did steroids, maybe he didn’t. But until a blood test comes around to say yes, he absolutely did them, it’s all speculation by people who have no proof and have no experience. He probably did it, so what?”

Since retiring from baseball, Rocker said he devotes about 80 percent of his time to real estate. He donates time to several charities around the state, has dabbled in reality television with an appearance on the SpikeTV show “Pros vs. Joes” and is writing a book due out later this year titled “The Truth About Everything.” Rocker describes the book as “conservative political commentary with sports overtones,” along the lines of authors Bill O’Reilly and Michael Savage.

Baseball doesn’t interest Rocker anymore. He’d rather watch University of Georgia football (he attends about five games a year), NASCAR (he went to Talladega earlier this month) and NHRA (he saw his first race last weekend).

Rocker played six seasons in the major leagues with four teams: the Braves, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. The fireballer’s best season came with the Braves in 1999 when he saved 38 games (in 45 chances) and posted a 2.49 ERA in 74 appearances, pitching against the New York Yankees in the World Series. Armed with a fastball clocked in the mid-90s and a nasty slider, Rocker looked like the bullpen savior the Braves were searching for to complement an All-Star rotation of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz.

But shortly after that dominant season, Rocker became a controversial figure almost overnight by making derogatory remarks about New Yorkers, minorities and homosexuals in a now infamous “Sports Illustrated” article. He later retracted the comments and apologized for them.

The Braves traded their closer to Cleveland in the middle of the 2001 season for two veteran relievers, apparently ridding the clubhouse of distractions caused by Rocker. After stints with the Texas and Tampa Bay, a torn rotator cuff in his pitching shoulder ended his major league career.

After months of rehabilitation, Rocker launched a comeback in 2005 with the Long Island Ducks, members of the Northern Division of the Class AAA Atlantic League. But the injury lingered and robbed Rocker of his trademark velocity.

Rocker said he’s accepted his baseball career is over. He also thinks the controversy over his remarks has passed as he makes the transition from a brash 24-year-old jock to a 31-year-old businessman.

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