Friday, July 13, 2001
Indians Notebook
Rocker gets OK to rock
By JOE KAY
AP Sports Writer
If John Rocker wants to rock after a Cleveland Indians game, that's fine with manager Charlie Manuel — just as long as he's back on time.
The closer flew to Atlanta to attend a Black Sabbath concert last Saturday after he pitched in a 7-6 victory over the Cardinals in Cleveland. He was back on time the next day, but pitched poorly and took the loss as St. Louis won 4-3.
Manuel had declined to talk about Rocker's trip until he had a chance to discuss it with him. After their talk Thursday, Manuel said the matter was closed and Rocker wasn't disciplined.
“He came back on time,” Manuel said. “I don't know there's a whole lot you can do about that.”
Manuel didn't know that Rocker was going to be heading to a concert in Atlanta, which is about an hour and a half flight from Cleveland. He didn't mind that his closer didn't tell him.
“The players don't come and tell me when they're going or coming back,” Manuel said. “I played baseball for 20 years. I never told my managers where I was going or what I did.”
ROCKER'S ROOF: Rocker was part of the first game at reconfigured Cinergy Field this season, and indirectly contributed to one of the changes.
Fans yelled at Rocker throughout the Atlanta Braves' 10-4 victory on opening day, targeting him for abuse as he sat in the bullpen beyond the right-field wall. Reds closer Danny Graves said Rocker was so angry that he acted like he wanted to go into the stands.
The next day, the grounds crew put up awnings over the bullpens, giving the relievers some privacy. Security also was strengthened.
TAUBENSEE FEELING BETTER: Indians catcher Eddie Taubensee plans to drive to Buffalo on Sunday to start a rehab assignment in Triple-A.
“I don't know if I have all the energy, but I have the ambition now,” he said.
Taubensee played catch and took batting practice before a game against the Cincinnati Reds on Thursday. The Reds traded him to the Indians last November for pitchers Jim Brower and Robert Pugmire.
Taubensee was a backup before he came down with a viral infection last month. A teammate noticed that his eyes were turning yellow in mid-June, prompting him to go for tests that found his liver has swollen and he had jaundice.
He went on the disabled list and went home to rest and let his run-down body recover.
“In the afternoon, when my kids would take a nap, I took one with them,” he said.
He rejoined the Indians shortly before the All-Star break to start working back into shape. The Indians want him to catch about five innings to start out and be an occasional designated hitter during his minor-league rehab stint.
Manuel said Taubensee could be ready to rejoin the Indians in about 10 days.
INDIANS FOCUSED ON ROTATION: The intrastate matchup Thursday also matched up the two least-productive starting rotations in the major leagues.
The Reds' rotation had thrown the fewest innings in the National League (464 1/3), while the Indians' rotation had the fewest in the majors (455 1/3).
The Reds have fallen out of contention in part because of their poor starting pitching. The Indians are in second in the AL Central almost exclusively because of it.
Left-hander Chuck Finley, on the disabled list with a sore neck, will pitch for Akron on Sunday and could rejoin the club on the 21st, Manuel said.
“We'll decide what to do about the rotation then,” he said. “Right now, what we've got is what we've got.”
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Rocker gets OK to rock