John Rocker made news in July when he tried to justify the use of performance enhancing drugs (PED) in major league baseball. Rocker, who played in the major leagues for just over five years (1998-2003) for the Atlanta Braves, Cleveland Indians, Texas Rangers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays, admitted to steroid usage during his career in 2011. Rocker is less known for his ability to pitch as compared to his ability to spew ill-advised rants.
John Rocker said on a Cleveland radio broadcast, “At the end of the day when people are paying their $80, $120 whatever it may be, to buy their ticket and come watch that game, it’s almost like the circus is in town. They are paid to be entertained. They want to 
see some clown throw a fastball 101 mph and some other guy hit it 500 feet. That’s entertainment. You’re paying to be entertained.”
It is clear to me despite playing major league baseball, Mr. Rocker truly never understood the game that paid him millions. Baseball is a competition, not an exhibition. It is a game of statistics. It’s a game that young and old alike can play. It’s a game of numbers where a 30% success rate in hits versus at bats can mean a hall of fame career. It’s a sport where winning 300 games will put a pitcher in Cooperstown. Baseball is an every-man sport. It’s not about who can afford the best chemist or druggist. It’s about playing a sport with your natural talent, whatever that talent may be, and not about buying chemicals to enable you to hit homers or put 5 more miles per hour on your fastball.
I’m confident that Major League Baseball will continue to clean up its act as it seeks to rid itself of the remnants of the PED era Rocker is so proud of. Ryan Braun’s current suspension is proof of that, although I wish that Braun’s punishment had been a permanent ban from baseball. Braun’s suspension will cost him more than $3 million, but he will still make almost $6 million for the current year. In fact, this year, Braun made in one game the annual average salary of a U.S. high school teacher. In 2014, Braun will be paid more than $10 million, under his current contract which doesn’t expire until 2021, for his chemically enhanced performance. Continuing to reward Braun, Alex Rodriguez and other PED users in baseball for cheating is wrong. The fact that John Rocker doesn’t get that is troubling, but I take comfort in knowing that Mr. Rocker doesn’t speak for the game of baseball anymore.