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Rocker to return to NY
by Karen Matthews
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
If Atlanta relief pitcher John Rocker carries out his
threat to ride the subway to games between the Mets and the Braves, there
could be more cops on the train than purple-haired punks, unwed mothers
and AIDS patients combined.
Security at Shea Stadium will be tight. And Mets fans
itching to taunt Rocker — who angered New Yorkers with his politically
incorrect views on punks and foreigners riding New York subways — may find
their anger dulled by a two-beer limit.
Last week, Rocker told USA Today Baseball
Weekly that he planned to ride the No. 7 subway train through Queens during
the Braves-Mets series that starts Thursday.
“I won’t be in a cab,” he vowed. “I won’t be on
the bus. I’ll be on that train.”
Police said Tuesday that Rocker can take the subway,
which passes through many immigrant communities. But he may have trouble
starting a meaningful dialogue with other riders.
“If Rocker gets on the train, he’ll be entirely
surrounded by police officers,” police spokeswoman Marilyn Mode said.
Once he gets to the stadium, he’ll be protected
by a sea of blue. Mode said that in addition to the 60 officers usually
assigned to Mets games, there will be an extra 500 uniformed cops plus
an unspecified number of plainclothes officers.
And that’s not all. Police sources who spoke
on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press that officers will
be on every subway platform along the No. 7 line between Grand Central
Terminal in Manhattan and Shea in Queens, and any train Rocker boards will
become an express so that it picks up fewer pa at the games to blend in.
Meanwhile, Mets senior vice president David
Howard said that fans would be allowed to buy only two beers at a time
during the four-game series. The normal limit is four.
Howard said beer sales will stop after the sixth inning instead of the
usual seventh.
“I’m confident New Yorkers will rise above
the situation and not stoop down to his level,” Howard said.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, in town to unveil the
new World Series championship trophy, said he had discussed security arrangements
with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, police officials and Rocker, and was satisfied
that all precautions have been taken.
“It’s time to be prudent and smart,” Selig
said. “The Mets fans will be just fine and I don’t think John will do anything
to incite anybody.”
Rocker became a target of fan ire here when he told Sports
Illustrated during the offseason that he would rather retire than play
for a New York team.
“Imagine taking the 7 train ... looking
like you’re (in) Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some
queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who got out of jail for the fourth
time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids,” he said. “It’s
depressing.”
He added: “The biggest thing I don’t like
about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times
Square and not hear anybody speaking English. ... How the hell did they
get in this country?”
The series this week will be the hurler’s
first trip to Shea since the story appeared.
Braves and Mets players had varying opinions
on the controversy.
“All I’m thinking about is going up there
and doing my job on the mound,” said Braves starter Kevin Millwood, who
is scheduled to pitch Friday. “I think major league baseball and security
at Shea Stadium is smart enough to prevent having anything bad from happening.”
Mets catcher Mike Piazza said: “I’m sure
the crowd will be loud and rowdy. That’s what New York baseball is all
about.”
And if ugliness does break out on the subway,
the Mets will come to the rescue — in a comic book. The team has commissioned
a 24-page comic book featuring a villain who wants to blow up a No. 7 train.
The bad guy and his robotic henchmen are defeated by the Mets’ multiracial
lineup, with reliever John Franco pounding the villain, named Larcenous
Vein, into outer space with his baseball bat. The comic book will be handed
out to fans 14 and under at Saturday’s game.
The team said no similarity between Vein
and Rocker was intended.
“It’s a coincidence,” said Mets spokesman
Jay Horwitz. “The idea was conceived a long time ago.”
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