But Rocker forgot where the real power lies. The very next day the Braves showed him, demoting the 25-year-old closer to the AAA Richmond Braves. Management fined Rocker $5,000 for the confrontation, but insisted that he had earned the trip to the minors with his poor pitching. And so he had. Just two days earlier, he had entered the game against the Yankees in the ninth inning with a four-run lead, then proceeded to load the bases with two walks and a hit batsman. Atlanta pitching coach Leo Mazzone was seen angrily slamming down the bullpen phone, and Rocker was bailed out only when his outfielder caught a long drive against the left field wall.

Rocker believes he has been miscast as sports’ most prominent racist, xenophobe and homophobe. But now he has lost any semblance of support, public or private, from his teammates. Even before outfielder Brian Jordan pronounced Rocker a “cancer” on the club, the players had tired of the constant distraction that Rocker had become. “It’s a pain in the butt for the other 24 guys,” said Chipper Jones, the National League MVP last season.

Atlanta needed Rocker to help the team reverse last year’s World Series flop against the Yankees. Instead, he kept provoking fans and journalists. “Sooner or later he has to look in the mirror and take responsibility for his actions,” said star pitcher Tom Glavine. “Everything that’s happened has been a direct result of something he’s said or done.” The only person who could muster any sympathy was SI’s Pearlman. “I totally understand why he’s mad,” Pearlman said. He didn’t write about the run-in, but several people saw the confrontation, and by the time Pearlman took his press-box seat, Major League Baseball security and Braves officials were there to question him.

Rocker later groused to an Atlanta radio station about his “raw deal of raw deals.” He even said he might quit baseball and, possibly, become a stockbroker. But on Thursday, he was in Toledo to join the lesser Braves –and blessedly silent. One night later, though, after the press watched him struggle with his control during a pre-game warm-up, Rocker had a temper tantrum in the bullpen, tossed a ball into the stands and stormed into the clubhouse. Such behavior should assure that he has plenty of time in baseball’s lesser outposts to learn a key lesson –that while the spotlight shines, it can also burn.