These Fans Always Seemed a Little Off Their Rockers

The Atlanta Braves’ controversial relief pitcher John Rocker got a hero’s welcome Friday night in--of all places--Philadelphia.

In the city in which fans once booed Santa Claus, cheered the temporary paralysis of Dallas Cowboy receiver Michael Irvin and only three days ago threw debris during an NBA playoff game, Rocker was embraced.

Signs such as “You Can Rock Me John” greeted Rocker when he walked onto the field at Veterans Stadium at 5:42 p.m. Several hundred fans were already in the ballpark when he came out before the Braves-Phillies game.

“He’s OK,” said Bob Creech, a Yankee fan who drove down from New York with his wife and two children. “He has opinions. There’s bigots in New York too.”

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More Rocker: Said Atlanta pitcher Tom Glavine on the Philadelphia fans’ surprisingly warm pregame reaction: “Other than New York, this was one of the places that was looked at as being tough on him. It was no worse or no better [than in other cities].”

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Trivia time: Which team holds the single-season major league record for a losing streak?

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You don’t want to know: Steve Davis of the Dallas Morning News noted that Dennis Rodman turned 39 Saturday.

“And if you get the urge, even for a second, to think about what Rodman does on his special day, well, by gosh, conquer it.”

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Only hope: Nick Canepa in the San Diego Union-Tribune: “America has found three ways to become a world power in distance running: naturalize, naturalize, naturalize.”

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Or sky diving: Eccentric former PGA Tour player Mac O’Grady in Golf World, when asked if he plans to play the senior tour in April 2001, when he turns 50:

“I hope so. But you know me. I might be in Paris, painting.”

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Bulletin! Elon College in North Carolina will drop the nickname “Fightin’ Christians” and become “the Phoenix” starting in the fall.

Among the 125 names rejected by the selection committee were Aardvarks, Fat-Tailed Geckos and Rabid Existentialists.

“Go Geckos!” would have had a nice ring to it.

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Looking back: On this day in 1913, Walter Johnson’s major league record 56-inning scoreless streak ended when the Washington pitcher yielded a fourth-inning run to the St. Louis Browns.

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Looking back again: May 14 was a good day for Johnson. In 1920, he won his 300th game with a 9-8 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

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Trivia answer: The Philadelphia Phillies, 23 games, in 1961.

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And finally: Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter didn’t make People magazine’s 2000 list of the 50 most beautiful people, which he’d made last year and in 1997.

Said Jeter: “Guess they only like me every other year.”