Every crisis goes away.
Unfortunately for the Braves and the sport of baseball, someone was slow on the uptake. Braves pitcher John Rocker has brought anything but relief to his team since Sports Illustrated published an article late last month in which he offended countless people with some incredibly mean spirited comments he later attributed to competitiveness. Few escaped his jabs which slammed a variety of targets, including different ethnic and social groups, rival organizations and even his own teammates. The backlash from this interview has embroiled Rocker, the Braves, and the entire sport of baseball in another crisis much too soon after it had begun to successfully refurbish its image from a crippling labor dispute. For a franchise with a heritage that includes Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, Rocker s slurs inevitably scar its well-honed image.