BRAVES' FANS SEEM TO BE OFF THEIR ROCKER.

Byline: Brian Dohn

CINCINNATI - Tuesday, the Dodgers get to play in front of the most disgusting, vile fans in baseball.

It's a day after they can take the No. 7 train to Shea Stadium. After a brief stop Monday in New York, the Dodgers head to Turner Field - a place where they applaud racist comments and have no qualms about cheering mightily for a guy who bashed nearly every facet of human existence that isn't similar to himself.

It's too bad John Rocker didn't get traded to Montreal. The irony of him playing, and working, in another country would have been tremendous. Of course, the Montreal players were too appalled by his words to want him around, so they made signs and passed them around the clubhouse in protest of the move.

The worst thing about the situation is Rocker seemingly hasn't learned a darn thing from it, and those who stand and cheer him for it are no better. The Dodgers will experience it first-hand Tuesday when they begin a three-game series in Atlanta.

But the remorseless Rocker isn't even willing to distance himself from the disparaging comments he made about immigrants, gays and minorities. Instead, he invites more scrutiny and more disgust from his actions.

During an interview with Fox Sports Net after the Braves' game Thursday, Rocker ripped the media for not being sensitive toward his privacy, stemming from his ultra-insensitive comments.

``There's been a lot of instances over the last three or four months when the media has been completely oblivious of my privacy and my family'sprivacy,'' Rocker said. ``They've overstepped their bounds in a lot of areas. It's time for a little payback.

``They're not going to be able to treat me the way they've treated me and get me to jump at their every whim and do every little interview theywant me to do. There were news trucks sitting outside my house at 1 in the morning on Christmas Eve. I don't think I deserve that kind of treatment.''

Great. And all the people Rocker painted with his racist brush should be subjected to his uneducated ranting.

Rocker's tried to paint himself as the martyr, but that's nothing more than a defense mechanism to change the focus. He's gone out of his way to be obnoxious, saying ``Beat it, media. I'm not talking.''

But Rocker's view is he's served his penalty, a two-week suspension handed down from Major League Baseball. What he's missing is an education on the various cultures that make up this country, and his clubhouse. In Montreal, new owner Jeff Loria decorated the clubhouse with flags representing the countries each player is from.

Wonder what flag Rocker would choose?

It's simple to blame the media, and in many situations boundaries are crossed. But don't let that cloud the issue of ignorance and racism, at least in the comments.

But it's also a situation about which very few people want to speak. Instead, nearly everyone is distancing themselves from it.

``He didn't seem to put it out very well,'' said Phillies manager TerryFrancona, whose club was the first to face Rocker when the suspension ended. ``His apologies were kind of left-handed. I don't know if they were to the point where people were willing to let it go.''

It's not about Rocker's alleged half-hearted apology. It's about his actions after the situation. He met with teammates, who are still trying to back away from the situation, and he expected it to end there. Yet, he continues to draw attention to himself.

People make mistakes. But they're supposed to learn from them.

Even if Rocker was an upstanding citizen for the last four months, it'snot enough time to make one think his beliefs have changed.

Unfortunately, when Rocker continues to get cheered from events stemming from his stupid, callous remarks, it makes it that much more difficult for him to understand how much his words can hurt.

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Photo: Most Braves' fans have come out in support of pitcher John Rocker.

John Bazemore/Associated Press