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Controversial former MLB pitcher John Rocker offered an explicit critique of New York on Tuesday as the election for the city’s next mayor neared.
Rocker brought up the remarks he made to Sports Illustrated in December 1999 after the Atlanta Braves took on the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. He wrote on social media that the city hasn’t changed much in his eyes.
“25 years ago I criticized New York for its rapid decline into a third world country,” he wrote on X. “I was forced to undergo Psychological Counseling, as if I were the crazy one. 25 years later, the city is voting in a muslim socialist for mayor. F— NEW YORK.”
Rocker was referring to Zohran Mamdani, who is the favorite to win the election over former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Rocker’s infamous remarks to the magazine came at the height of the Braves and Mets’ rivalry in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Mets finally got through the Braves in the 2000 NLCS and played in the World Series against the New York Yankees later that year.
“I’d retire first. It’s the most hectic, nerve-wracking city,” he told the magazine when asked if he’d ever play in New York. “Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark 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.
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“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?”
Rocker was suspended for the remarks and was forced to undergo psychiatric counseling, according to the New York Post. He certainly heard it from the Shea Stadium faithful when he came to town the following year.
Rocker, who had 38 saves in 1999, was out of Atlanta in the middle of the 2001 season. He was out of the majors after two games with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2003.
He may not have played in New York City but he came as close as he could with 23 appearances for the Long Island Ducks, of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, in 2005.
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Mamdani, a socialist, won the Democratic nomination for the New York. City mayoral race. The election is next Tuesday.
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