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Controversial former MLB pitcher John Rocker offered explicit criticism of New York on Tuesday as the election of the city’s next mayor approached.
Rocker brought up comments he made to Sports Illustrated in December 1999 after the Atlanta Braves faced the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. He wrote on social media that, in his eyes, the city hasn’t changed much.
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Atlanta Braves closing pitcher John Rocker returns some praise to unruly New York Mets fans after the final out in Game 3 of the 1999 National League Championship Series at Shea Stadium. (Howard Earl Simmons/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)
“25 years ago I criticized New York for its rapid decline into a third world country,” he wrote on
Rocker was referring to Zohran Mamdani, the favorite to win the election over former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Rocker’s infamous comments to the magazine came at the height of the Braves-Mets rivalry in the late ’90s and early ’00s. The Mets eventually beat the Braves in the 2000 National League Championship Series and played in the World Series against the New York Yankees that same year.
New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani waves to supporters while attending a “New York is not for sale” rally at Forest Hills Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City, U.S., on October 26, 2025. (REUTERS/Eduardo Muñoz)
“I would retire first. It’s the most hectic and stressful city,” he told the magazine when asked if he would ever play in New York. “Imagine having to take Train 7 to the stadium as if you were traveling through Beirut next to a kid with purple hair, right next to a faggot with AIDS, right next to a guy who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to a 20-year-old mother of four. It’s depressing.
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Anti-John Rocker fans searching for him before the game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets at Shea Stadium in Flushing, New York, on July 2, 2000. (Ezra O. Shaw/Allsport)
“What I don’t like most about New York are foreigners. You can walk a whole block in Times Square and not hear anyone speaking English. Asians, Koreans, Vietnamese, Indians, Russians, Spanish and everything there. How the hell did they get to this country?”
Rocker was suspended for the comments and forced to undergo psychiatric counseling, according to the New York Post. He certainly heard it from the Shea Stadium faithful when he came to town the following year.
Rocker, who had 38 saves in 1999, was out of Atlanta midway through the 2001 season. He was out of the majors after two games with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2003.
He may not have played in New York City, but he came as close as he could with 23 appearances for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in 2005.
Former Atlanta Braves relief pitcher John Rocker watches a game between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at Philips Arena on February 19, 2016. (Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports)
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Mamdani, a socialist, won the Democratic nomination for New York. Race for mayor of the city. The elections are next Tuesday.
