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Controversial former MLB pitcher John Rocker made an explicit criticism of New York on Tuesday as the election for the city’s next mayor approached.
Rocker brought up the remarks he made to Sports Illustrated in December 1999 after the Atlanta Braves took on the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. He wrote on social media that the city has not changed much in his eyes.
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Atlanta Braves’ closing pitcher John Rocker pays some compliments to unruly New York Mets’ fans after the final out of 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 X. “I was forced to undergo psychological counseling like I was crazy. 25 years later, the city votes in a Muslim socialist for mayor. F— NEW YORK.”
Rocker was referring to Zohran Mamdani, who is the favorite to win the election over former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
Rocker’s infamous remarks to the magazine came at the height of the Braves’ and Mets’ rivalry in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The Mets finally got through the Braves in the 2000 NLCS and played in the World Series against the New York Yankees later that year.
New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani greets supporters as he attends a “New York is not for sale” rally at Forest Hills Stadium in the Queens borough of New York City, the United States, on October 26, 2025. (REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz)
“I wanted to retire first. It’s the most hectic, nerve-racking city,” he told the magazine when asked if he would ever play in New York. “Imagine having to take the 7 train to the ballpark like you’re driving through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some guy who just got out of prison for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mother with four kids. It’s depressing.
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Anti-John Rocker Fans look 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)
“The biggest thing I don’t like about New York is the foreigners. You can walk a whole block in Times Square and not hear anyone speak English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish and everything up there. How the hell did they get into this country?”
Rocker was suspended for the remarks and was 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 in the middle of 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.
Atlanta Braves former relief pitcher John Rocker watches the first quarter of a game between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks 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. City mayoral race. The election is next Tuesday.
