Rocker Has Confrontation With Reporter

John Rocker could be in trouble again.

The embattled Atlanta Brave reliever had a confrontation Sunday with the Sports Illustrated reporter who wrote the story in which Rocker made offensive comments about gays, minorities, immigrants and his own teammates.

The reporter, Jeff Pearlman, said Rocker threatened him, though there was no physical contact between the two. The Braves said they were investigating, and teammate Brian Jordan called Rocker a “cancer.”

“I’m amazed he hasn’t handled himself the right way,” said Jordan, one of the leaders in the clubhouse. “Geez, if the guy has nine lives, he’s using them up pretty good.”

“You’ve got one guy being a cancer time and time again,” the outfielder said. “Eventually, it’s going to have an effect on the team. Hopefully, he’ll change.”

Pearlman, in Atlanta to do a story on the Braves meeting the New York Yankees in a rematch of last year’s World Series, had a chance meeting with Rocker in a service tunnel beneath Turner Field about two hours before the final game of the series.

According to Pearlman, Rocker made threatening comments such as, “This isn’t over between us,” and, “Do you know what I can do to you?”

The confrontation lasted about two minutes and became so heated that Rocker flipped around the bill of his cap so he could get face-to-face with the reporter.

“I was scared,” Pearlman said. “But he didn’t do anything.”

Rocker attempted to get Pearlman banned from the clubhouse. The Braves stressed that he was allowed the same access as any other reporter.

“We are aware that there was an incident,” General Manager John Schuerholz said in a statement. “We immediately began to address the matter internally and are continuing to do so. We respect the rights of Jeff, as a legitimate member of the media, to cover the Braves in general and this series against the New York Yankees in particular. We will do everything in our power to insure that similar incidents do not occur in the future.”

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Detroit Tiger outfielder Juan Gonzalez left Sunday’s game against the Chicago Cubs after fouling a ball off his left foot. Gonzalez was starting his third game after missing three straight because of a sprained left foot. His status is day-to-day. . . . Brett Gray struck out a Frontier League-record 25 in the London Werewolves’ 9-1 victory over the Chillicothe Paints on Saturday night at London, Canada. Gray, 33, twice struck out four in an inning and allowed three hits and one walk in the complete game--the Werewolves’ home opener.