Former MLB RP John Rocker eliminated from ‘Survivor’

By Ed Carroll | Oct 13, 2014

Aug 31, 2014; Hampton, GA, USA; Former MLB player John Rocker (left) and his girlfriend Julie McGee prior to the Oral-B USA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports /

Former Major League reliever John Rocker was a contestant on CBS’s reality show “Survivor,” and wasn’t upset over being eliminated early because of how miserable he was during the filming experience.

John Rocker used to be the last man on the mound as an MLB closer. But on the CBS show “Survivor,” where Rocker joined the cast of the 29th season in San Juan del Sur and became the first man knocked out of the contest, and the third contestant eliminated overall, despite having an immunity idol which would have spared him from elimination.

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Rocker became famous for closing out games with the Atlanta Braves in the late 1990’s, and then later became infamous for his racist comments regarding New York City and its subway system while pitching for the Braves against the New York Yankees in the 1999 World Series. The left-handed throwing Rocker was superb on the mound for three-and-a-half seasons in Atlanta (1998-2001), but flamed out and was out of baseball by the end of the 2003 season.

Rocker said he thought the other contestants made an “awful” decision to kick him off the island, but wasn’t upset over being eliminated. He said he felt his elimination could help his girlfriend, fellow contestant Julie McGee, advance on the show, but said he was happy to be voted out.

“I lost 19 pounds in 10 days,” Rocker said of “Survivor.” “I never knew when I was going to eat again. It was miserable. I thought going into it that there would secretly be bottled water and some food given to us but that was not the case. It is very real and very miserable. Once I got voted off all I wanted to do was eat.”

Rocker also said in the interview he felt pro athletes go into “Survivor” with a target on their backs (several athletes have competed in the show post-retirement, including former MLB MVP Jeff Kent), and was hoping to get through the show without too many people recognizing him, but other competitions on the show quickly figured out who Rocker was.

“I was hoping no one would recognize me but pretty much right off the bat I realized that was not going to happen,” Rocker said of his fame on the show.

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