Arbitrator asked to overturn Rocker suspension

NEW YORK (AP) -- John Rocker is back in the city he hates, trying to overturn his suspension for offensive comments against homosexuals, minorities and foreigners. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has

Wednesday, February 9th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) -- John Rocker is back in the city he hates, trying to overturn his suspension for offensive comments against homosexuals, minorities and foreigners. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has banned Rocker until May 1,saying the Atlanta Braves' top reliever "offended practically every element of society" with his comments in a December issue of Sports Illustrated.

The players' association quickly appealed the decision, setting up today's hearing in New York before Shyam Das, baseball's new arbitrator. "Just be patient," Rocker repeated today as he walked into the commissioner's officer in midtown Manhattan, far from Shea and Yankee stadiums, where taunting fans irritated him so much last year.

Das was to hear testimony from Selig and Braves president Stan Kasten. Gene Orza, the union's chief lawyer, will argue on Rocker's behalf, and union head Donald Fehr is expected to testify on past suspensions. It was unclear if Rocker would testify.

There's no indication how quickly the arbitrator might rule, but the union most likely will ask for a decision by the start of spring training. The Braves' pitchers and catchers report to camp at Kissimmee, Fla., on Feb. 17.

Rocker told Sports Illustrated in December he would never play for a New York team because he didn't want to ride a subway train "next to some queer with AIDS." He also mocked foreigners and called a Latin teammate a "fat monkey."

Bill Fugazy, chairman of the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations Foundation and a close friend of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, today called on Das to deny the appeal. "At a time when Rocker should be showing all possible remorse for his words and actions, he shows no regret and that he has no regard for anyone but himself," Fugazy said. "His appeal clearly demonstrates that he has no concept of what he has done wrong."

Time and again, the union has persuaded arbitrators to reduce or overturn suspensions imposed by baseball. In 1981, St. Louis shortstop Garry Templeton was suspended and fined $5,000 after making obscene gestures toward heckling fans at Busch Stadium. Two days later, an arbitrator ruled the suspension should be lifted when Templeton checked into a hospital for treatment of depression. In 1992, Yankees pitcher Steve Howe was suspended for life after pleading guilty to attempting to buy a gram of cocaine. An arbitrator ended the suspension later that year, saying Howe had attention deficit disorder.

Without Rocker, the Braves are holding a pre spring training pitching camp at Turner Field. While Atlanta has mentioned the possibility of trading Rocker, several general managers have said no serious talks have occurred. Kerry Ligtenberg, who held the closer's job in 1998 and is trying to come back from an elbow injury that kept him out all of last season, hopes the Rocker situation will be settled quickly. "It's a big distraction for the team," Ligtenberg said Tuesday. "We need to get this resolved sooner rather than later. If we push it to the side and bring it up two months later, it's not going to be any better. We need to deal with John as a team and go from there."

For now, the Braves are facing the possibility of heading to Florida next week without the pitcher who saved 38 games last season, one short of the franchise record. Selig's suspension covers all 45 days of spring training and the first 28 days of the season. He also fined Rocker $20,000 and ordered him to undergo sensitivity training.

Richard Moss, the association's top lawyer for 11 years, predicted last week that Rocker's punishment probably will be reduced. "For the commissioner's office to just do something without consulting the players' association, without consulting Rocker and without reaching agreement on what was acceptable to everybody was kind of stupid," Moss said.

According to research by the union and the commissioner's office, this is the first time a player was disciplined for speech since 1938. New York Yankees outfielder Jake Powell was suspended for 10 days by commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Land for disparaging blacks during a radio interview.