As revealed in the current issue of Atlanta magazine, former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker is releasing a memoir in June. The self-published book, titled John Rocker: Scars and Stripes, is co-written by "a liberal guy from Canada" according to the man who once decried New York for its many "queer[s] with AIDS" and diverse population (because Atlanta is so monochromatic).
The book sounds, in some ways, to be a reaction to the most defining moment in Rocker's life, when a story by Sports Illustrated's Jeff Pearlman laid the groundwork for much of Eastbound and Down's Kenny Powers. Rocker himself says the autobiography is composed of baseball, politics, "philosophy and feelings," in increasing order of yucky ickiness.
Rocker has never gotten over that Pearlman story, which makes sense, since the first thing that comes to mind for just about anybody at the mention of his name is a racist rant complete and wide-ranging enough to shock even Southeasterners. I'm not saying we necessarily have more racists around here than anywhere else, you understand, but I'm saying we've heard some things.
ht Jeff Schultz