Controversial former baseball player John Rocker has ignited fury once again by posting a horrific racial slur about Uber drivers in America.
Rocker, who infamously made a series of racist and homophobic statements in a 1999 interview with Sports Illustrated, even demanded Uber introduce an ‘American Citizen’ driver option for passengers to select.
It remains unclear what prompted the outburst, but he posted on Tuesday: ‘There should be a “American Citizen Driver” selection option on Uber.
‘I don’t want to be driven by someone who was riding a camel 12 months ago.’
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 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.
Controversial former MLB player John Rocker posted a sickening racial slur about Uber drivers
‘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?’
Then-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.
Rocker was due to fight Patrick Mahomes Sr in a highly-publicized boxing match earlier this year but it fell through.
The two former baseball stars were set to officially face off in the ring as part of Barstool Sports’ ‘Rough N’ Rowdy’ promotions, following their heated New Orleans street confrontation during Super Bowl week.
However, the ‘Beef on Bourbon Street’ was unceremoniously called off just days after Barstool chief Dave Portnoy announced the clash.
Earlier this summer, Rocker furiously told MLB to ‘stop the gay sh*t’ as teams put on Pride events at their stadiums in June.
The league traditionally stages ‘Pride Month’ each year as a way for franchises to promote LGBTQ+ inclusivity throughout both the sport and the country.
Rocker furiously told MLB to ‘stop the gay sh*t’ as teams put on Pride events back in June
Yet certain initiatives sparked controversy this season, 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.
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.
And amid that outrage, Rocker 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.’
