Latest news with #JohnRocker
Daily Mail
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Ex-MLB star John Rocker slams 'gay sh*t' as players and fans are forced to back LGBTQ flag
Controversial ex-baseball star John Rocker has furiously told MLB to 'stop the gay sh*t' as teams continue to put on Pride events at their stadiums this month. The league traditionally stages 'Pride Month' in June each year as a way for franchises to promote LGBTQ + inclusivity throughout both the sport and the country. Yet certain initiatives in recent weeks have sparked controversy, including when the New York Mets showed the rainbow-colored Pride flag on their big screen instead of the American flag during a rendition of the national anthem on Friday night. Los Angeles Dodgers players were also made to wear Pride-themed hats during their game on Saturday, with one player writing a religious message on his to dispute that rainbows were created by God to serve that demographic, while the Boston Red Sox received a backlash after staging a pre-game drag show earlier this week. And amid outrage over the heavy LGBTQ+ promotion, Rocker has hit out at MLB for 'lecturing' baseball fans when they attend games. The former Atlanta Braves pitcher said on X: 'MLB needs to stop the gay sh*t. Baseball fans want a show, not a lecture.' The New York Mets controversially showed a Pride flag during a rendition of the national anthem Friday (left), while Dodgers stars were made to wear hats with rainbow logos Saturday Rocker, who infamously made a series of racist and homophobic statements in a 1999 interview with Sports Illustrated, was mainly praised online for his post condemning MLB's Pride initiatives. A large number of fans agreed with his statement, including one who replied: 'So disappointed in MLB'. Another commented: 'We want this from all sports John. Just play the game, compete, and let us enjoy our escape from everyday life and politics.' 'Truth! MLB is embarrassing itself,' claimed a third. While another fan put: 'Shameful what the Mets did yesterday. Disgusting.' In his 1999 Sports Illustrated interview, Rocker, who was with the Braves at the time, called Curacaoan teammate Randall Simon a 'fat monkey', used racial stereotypes toward Asian women driving on the road and claimed he doesn't like playing games in New York because he has to ride the subway alongside next to 'queers with AIDS'. When asked by Pearlman if he'd ever play for the Yankees or the Mets, he gave an infamous quote calling it 'the most hectic, nerve-wracking city' and that he'd retire before playing there. 'Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark (Shea Stadium, former home of the Mets) 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. Rocker added: 'The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?' MLB commissioner Bud Selig suspended Rocker without pay for the entirety of spring training - as well as the first 28 games of the 2000 season. After an appeal, the in-season suspension was reduced to 14 games. Despite a number of teams getting involved in the annual 'Pride Month' tradition in recent weeks, baseball fans threatened to boycott MLB over the divisive stunt that took place in New York on Friday. Prior to their game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Mets sparked fury by displaying the LGBTQ + symbol instead of the American flag as the Star Spangled Banner played out at Citi Field. One user posted on X along with a video of the moment: 'The Mets showed a pride flag instead of the American flag during our National Anthem. Boycott the MLB.' 'That's disgusting, @Mets,' said another. 'Think the @mlb is looking to be boycotted,' wrote a third. The Mets showed a pride flag instead of the American flag during our National Anthem. Boycott the MLB. — Jack (@jackunheard) June 14, 2025 The New York Mets did not respond to a request for comment from on Saturday. When Dodgers players wore baseball caps with colors of the Pride flag mixed into the team's logo on Saturday, pitcher Clayton Kershaw made a slight tweak to his hat. Kershaw, who is a devout Christian, inscribed next to the LGBTQ+-inspired logo 'Gen 9:12-16' - which is a passage from the Bible that claims the rainbow was not created by God to represent that demographic. Instead, the passage reads: 'And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth."' That extract from the Bible, which comes just after the story of Noah and his family surviving a worldwide flood on an arc, suggests the rainbow is actually the sign of a covenant God made to never destroy the earth with a flood again.
Fox News
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Fox News
Pete Rose's reinstatement has baseball fans in uproar: 'What a shame they waited until now'
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred removed Pete Rose, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and other deceased players from the league's permanently ineligible list Tuesday. As a result, Rose, MLB's all-time hits leader; Jackson; and others are eligible for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rose and Jackson were infamous figures in MLB history, their legacies tarnished by gambling on the game. MLB found Rose gambled on his Cincinnati Reds as both a player and manager, although he insisted he never bet on his team to lose. Rose denied the accusations until 2004. He sought reinstatement several times but was never welcomed back by MLB before his death in September 2024. Rose predicted just 10 days before his death that he wouldn't make the Baseball Hall of Fame until after he died, if at all. The news about Rose shocked the baseball world, and fans immediately began lobbying for Rose's induction into the Hall of Fame. Baseball fans have been debating Rose's eligibility for the Hall of Fame for years. Former MLB pitcher John Rocker posted, "PETE ROSE DESERVED TO SEE HIS NAME IN THE HALL OF FAME." However, not everyone shares the same view, including veteran sports host Chris Rose. "Pete Rose didn't give Pete Rose a shot to get into the Baseball Hall of Fame," Chris Rose explained in his reaction video posted on social media. "We're always looking to point the finger at somebody else as to why we can't do this or we weren't given that shot. My guess is that Pete Rose would've had ample opportunity to do this if he would've looked himself in the mirror and said, 'You have to clean up your act,' which he never did. "For 15 years after A. Bartlett Giamatti, the commissioner at the time, said, "Pete, you're out,' he never admitted to betting on baseball. You know when he finally did? When he could turn a quick buck, when he could turn out a book. And then he started saying, 'Yeah, I did bet on baseball, but I only I bet on my team to win when I was managing them.'" Manfred wrote about his decision in a letter to attorney Jeffrey M. Lenkov. "Obviously, a person no longer with us cannot represent a threat to the integrity of the game," Manfred wrote in the letter obtained by ESPN. "Moreover, it is hard to conceive of a penalty that has more deterrent effect than one that lasts a lifetime with no reprieve. Therefore, I have concluded that permanent ineligibility ends upon the passing of the disciplined individual, and Mr. Rose will be removed from the permanently ineligible list." President Donald Trump, who met with Manfred last month, announced in March he would pardon Rose, who served five months in prison in 1990. In 2017, Rose was also accused of statutory rape from an alleged encounter decades earlier. "Major League Baseball didn't have the courage or decency to put the late, great, Pete Rose, also known as 'Charlie Hustle,' into the Baseball Hall of fame. Now he is dead, will never experience the thrill of being selected, even though he was a FAR BETTER PLAYER than most of those who made it, and can only be named posthumously. WHAT A SHAME!" Trump posted. While Rose has a good shot to make it into the Hall, Jackson's chances are slim to none. It is widely assumed he took part in the 1919 Black Sox scandal, in which seven others were banned from the game for fixing the World Series that year. As a result of Manfred's decision, 17 deceased players have been removed from MLB's permanently ineligible list. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mahomes Family Attacked In NSFW Rant By Baseball 'Boxer'
It was supposed to be a gimmick, a bit, as embarrassing as it would've been for "boxers'' Patrick Mahomes Sr. and John Rocker. Mahomes is of course the father of the brilliant Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick ... and dad once played Major League Baseball. Advertisement So did John Rocker, a controversial figure in his playing days in part because he was accused of a serious of hateful rants against ... well, everybody. So in New Orleans at the Super Bowl, in conjunction with the Chiefs' 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, there were sideshows. Taylor Swift was there getting booed because she's Travis Kelce's celebrity girlfriend. President Donald Trump was there, too. It was quite a scene. And to capitalize on it all? A staged street brawl between Mahomes Sr. and Rocker went viral. And this "beef'' - all orchestrated by Barstool Sports - carried over. ... because Mahomes Sr. and Rocker were going to box on April 18. Advertisement It seems Patrick Mahomes and his camp stepped in to put a stop to the foolishness, and now Rocker is speaking out. Hatefully. "Today is the day I was supposed to fight Pat Mahomes Sr.," Rocker said. "Instead of fighting today he backed out like a little (expletive) because his son and his loser wife decided it'd be a bad look to the family name for him to get in the ring." Rocker has been a controversial figure in the baseball world for some time ... though he's been out of the spotlight. Obviously, he wants back in. ... and he's decided that trashing the Mahomes family - including a female member of that family - is the path. Advertisement That's a seedy way to do business, which should surprise no one who is familar with Rocker's world view. Related: Why Chiefs RB Situation Is An 'Urgent' Need Related: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift Baby Drama Heating Up After Viral Comment
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patrick Mahomes' Dad Addresses Super Bowl Fight With John Rocker
Originally appeared on E! Online Patrick Mahomes' dad isn't holding back. Amid circulating reports that —who shares the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback with ex Randi Martin—had an altercation with former Atlanta Braves player John Rocker during Super Bowl LIX celebrations in New Orleans, the former MLB player shared a cryptic social media post. In a Feb. 11 post to X, Pat—who was a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, and the New York Mets and more during his nine year tenure with the MLB—wrote, 'John Rocker is a menace to society.' Meanwhile, Rocker seemingly threatened Mahomes in his own subsequent X post. 'Mahomes is lucky he got away,' Rocker wrote just hours after Mahomes' post. 'I would have Rocked him.' Later, Rocker added Feb. 12, 'Well that was an interesting night.' But while a video of the former MLB players arguing on Bourbon Street in New Orleans went viral, some fans are speculating that the altercation and subsequent social media posts are a set up to promote an upcoming fight between the athletes, which Barstool Sports' announced in his own social media post. More from E! Online Naya Rivera's Son Josey Tried to Throw Her a Rope to Save Her From Drowning Titanic Submersible: New Audio Recording Appears to Reveal Moment of Implosion Virgin River Actor Callum Kerr's Parents' Cause of Death Revealed After Being Found Dead at Home 'I don't know if you saw the little beef on Bourbon Street,' Dave said in a video shared to X Feb. 12. 'John Rocker and Pat Mahomes Sr. just going at it—almost broke out into a fight. I guess they f--king hated each other since their playing days—baseball.' Dave continued, announcing the former baseball players would fight in Barstool's Rough N' Rowdy match April 19. 'They signed the f--king paper work,' Dave explained. 'This is real bad blood.' The media personality also extended an invitation to Mahomes' son—who made a subtle jab toward Barstool during a press conference leading up to the Super Bowl—to watch the fight. 'Patty Mahomes and crew, no bad blood,' Dave added in his video. 'We can make up and watch your dad fight. That's an open invite. You say you don't like us, I get your dad to fight John Rocker in Rough N' Rowdy.' E! News has reached out to reps for Mahomes and Rocker regarding the legitimateness of their rift but has not yet heard back. Keep reading for more stars you may have missed at Super Bowl LIX... Ashley Avignone, Alana Haim, Taylor Swift, Este Haim & Danielle HaimCynthia ErivoBrenda Song & Macaulay CulkinLeonardo DiCaprioBradley Cooper & Daughter LeaSealTeyana Taylor & Karrueche TranRussell Wilson & CiaraLady GagaDylan Sprouse & Barbara Palvin SprouseKevin HartAnne HathawaySerena WilliamsSZAPaul RuddBrittany Mahomes & Patrick MahomesJordon Hudson & Nikki GlaserDonald Trump & Ivanka TrumpTaylor Swift & Ice SpiceBradley CooperSamuel L. JacksonLedisiMaster PJon Batiste For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News App
