Indians Lookback: The John Rocker Trade of 2001 was a Massive Swing and a Miss for Tribe

The Indians in 2001 went out on a limb and made a deal for outspoken lefty closer John Rocker from the Atlanta Braves. Rocker came to Cleveland trying to find success, but instead blew an early save against the Red Sox and was never the same.

Over the years the Cleveland Indians have made some trades as well as signings that fans and media both could deem as questionable.

The move that the team made on June 22, 2001, still to this day goes down as one of the most confusing, head scratching trades in the history of the franchise.

It was that Friday evening that the Tribe pulled off a deal with the Atlanta Braves, moving right-handed relievers Steve Karsay and Steve Reed for lefty reliever John Rocker.

If you never heard of John Rocker, you likely didn’t follow the game of baseball very closely or were not around yet in 2001.

He was a 6-foot-4, 225 pound hard thrower who was known more for his mouth and comments about minorities and his hatred for New York than he was for closing games.

When acquired by the Indians, the feeling was he would eventually be the team’s closer, taking the role from then closer Bob Wickman, who at the time of the trade had saved 14 games.

2001 was probably Wickman’s best season, as he went 5-0 with a solid 2.39 ERA and he saved 32 games for the Indians, all while dealing with the distraction of the team trading for Rocker.

Until December of 1999, not many people could have given much thought to who John Rocker was.

At that point in his life he was 24 years old, coming off a season out of the Braves pen in which he went 4-5 with a 2.39 ERA.

While he was rounding into form as a solid lefty out of the pen, and the team’s closer, no one really had an idea of the person off the field – which is when the Sports Illustrated piece changed his life, as well as the thoughts many fans turned on Rocker.

It was an interview done with veteran journalist Jeff Pearlman, entitled “At Full Blast Shooting outrageously from the lip, Braves closer John Rocker bangs away at his favorite targets: the Mets, their fans, their city and just about everyone in it.”

No one, even Pearlman, could have known what was coming when the interview took place.

Conducted while Rocker was driving to speak to a group of kids, the native of Statesboro, Georgia went on the offensive on the team he hated the most – the Mets, but more so on their fans as well as the people of New York.

"The biggest thing I don't like about New York are the foreigners. I'm not a very big fan of foreigners,” Rocker said in the interview.

“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?"

That quote, well before the day and age of the internet, went viral, and Rocker quickly became baseball’s most hated man.

Later in the interview Rocker seemed to know his comments were about to shed light on him as a person, and he went on the offensive with Pearlman trying to defend himself.

"I'm not a racist or prejudiced person," Rocker said. "But certain people bother me."

So knowing all this, why would the Indians pull the trigger on a deal to bring Rocker into Cleveland, into a clubhouse that easily could have been divided on how to react to the closer.

To say that the trade was a disaster for the Indians would be an understatement.

Rocker had a couple early outings in which he threw well, allowing one hit and striking out six in four outings – one against the Yankees and three against the Royals.

Then came his chance to get a save on July 5th at Jacobs Field, and just like that his Indians career was probably over.

Wickman that night threw an inning as the setup man, giving Rocker the chance to come in and get a save with the Indians nursing a one-run lead at 4-3.

With his theme song “Rock you Like a Hurricane,” by the Scorpions blaring as he took his warmups, it looked like Rocker was destined to become John Hart’s next hand-picked closer for the Tribe.

Instead, he imploded against the Red Sox, getting the first out, but then allowing a single, double and walk to load the bases.

He struck out Lou Merloni for out number two, bringing up Jose Offerman, who lined a 1-1 Rocker pitch right up the middle, scoring a pair of runs to give Boston a 5-4 edge.

The Sox closed out the one-run win, giving Rocker the loss and blown save, and it seemed to just shatter his confidence.

The closer role quickly went back to Wickman, and it seemed like the Indians knew they made a mistake ever even giving Rocker a chance.

He was a punching bag on the mound the rest of the season, going 3-7 with a 5.45 ERA.

Rocker didn’t endure himself to his teammates or fans, and prior to game one of the 2001 ALDS he again made headlines for the wrong reasons, as he threw water on fans taunting him in Seattle.

The Indians lost the series three games to two, and while he didn’t get much of a chance in the series to do damage, the Tribe knew that they were not going to allow Rocker back in 2002.

The team had already given a three-year extension to Wickman in September of 2001, setting the stage for the team to deal Rocker.

Newly appointed general manager Mark Shapiro tried to deal Rocker at the winter meetings that December, talking to the Rangers, Angels, and Cubs, but not being able to pull off a deal.

Shapiro turned to the one person who might have an interest in Rocker for a deal to get him off his roster – former Indians GM John Hart, who pulled the trigger to get Rocker in June.

Rocker was dealt to the Rangers on December 18 2001 for minor league pitcher Dave Elder. At that point Shapiro would have likely taken a bag of balls for Rocker, so getting anything was a win.

"My advice to John Hart was not to make the trade," Shapiro said following the trade of Rocker to the Rangers.

"My advice had nothing to do with the character issue or the ethical issue. We took a core, stable strength of our team and disrupted it. I felt it was not a wise move."

It was smart of Shapiro to cut the losses with Rocker and just put it in the Indians rear view mirror.

Rocker spent one season in Texas, going 2-3 with a 6.66 ERA, throwing in 30 games. He spent the following season in Tampa, throwing in just two games with a 9.00 ERA.

It was a calculated risk for Hart and the Indians to acquire Rocker. Trades as well as free agent pickups in baseball are always done with the hopes of coming out on the winning side.

In 2001, the Indians deal for Rocker was one of their more memorable losses in team history, one that likely the franchise would love to forget.