Rangers place Rocker on waivers

<br>(Arlington-AP) _ The Texas Rangers' experiment with hard-throwing reliever John Rocker is over. <br><br>The Rangers placed the one-time star closer on waivers Thursday for the purpose of giving

Friday, October 4th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Arlington-AP) _ The Texas Rangers' experiment with hard-throwing reliever John Rocker is over.

The Rangers placed the one-time star closer on waivers Thursday for the purpose of giving him his unconditional release.

Three seasons ago, Rocker had 38 saves for the Atlanta Braves. A year later, he had 24 saves for Atlanta, and both times, the Braves went to the World Series.

But Rocker hasn't been a dominating pitcher since a Sports Illustrated article before the 2000 season in which he made disparaging remarks about gays, minorities and others.

The Braves traded Rocker to Cleveland during the 2001 season.

Last December, after John Hart quit as Cleveland's general manager and became G-M of the Rangers, Hart acquired the hard-throwing lefty in a trade.

Rocker was 2-3 with a six-point-66 earned-run average for Texas, with one save in 30 appearances. He was demoted to the minor leagues twice.