'Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water' eliminates former pro baseball player John Rocker

Survivor: San Juan del Sur -- Blood vs. Water eliminated John Rocker during Wednesday night's third episode of the CBS reality competition's 29th season.


John, a 39-year-old former MLB player from Atlanta, GA, was voted out of his Coyopa tribe on Day 8 at the season's third Tribal Council session.

"You know, I guess the best-laid plans don't always work out. I made some good alliances; I thought they were pretty solid. I thought I had everything figured out, you know, sort of playing both sides of the fence. And here I am, the one guy who didn't want to be the guy with an idol in his pocket. I enjoyed myself and was happy to get the opportunity, but I guess this [idol] will be a souvenir," John said in his final words.

The Coyopa tribe was comprised of John; Wes Nale, a 23-year-old firefighter from Shreveport, LA; Baylor Wilson, a 20-year-old student from Nashville, TN; Dale Wentworth, a 55-year-old farmer from Ephrata, WA; Jaclyn Schultz, a 25-year-old media buyer from Las Vegas, NV; Josh Canfield, a 32-year-old actor and writer from New York, NY; and Alec Christy, a 22-year-old student from Winter Park, FL.

Hunahpu featured the following castaways: Drew Christy, a 25-year-old traveling sales representative from Winter Park, FL; Jeremy, a 36-year-old firefighter from Foxboro, MA; Reed Kelly, a 31-year-old Broadway performer, model and aerialist from New York, NY; Jon Misch, a 26-year-old financial assistant from Waterford, MI; Julie McGee, a 34-year-old model and owner of a spray-tan business from Atlanta, GA; Natalie Anderson, a 28-year-old student and crossfit coach from Edgewater, NJ; Keith Nale, a 53-year-old fire captain from Shreveport, LA; Missy Payne, a 47-year-old owner of a competitive cheerleading gym from Dallas, TX; and Kelley Wentworth, a 28-year-old marketing manager from Seattle, WA.


Survivor's third episode began on Night 6 at Coyopa's camp after they voted out Val Collins.

Baylor said she was "close to being completely blindsided" at Tribal Council and didn't really trust anyone, however, she was open to play the game with just about anybody at this point.

John said he tried to protect Val but she didn't play her hidden Immunity Idol and he didn't understand that. Little did he know Val never had an idol. John then asked Josh who flipped out of the guys, and Josh owned up to his move. When he found out Val and Jaclyn were voting for Baylor, he wasn't okay with it because it wasn't the plan. He assumed John had something to do with that.

John reiterated how he liked the five-guys alliance, but Josh told the cameras John was losing his credibility. Unless something big happened, Josh noted Jaclyn or Baylor would be next on the chopping block.

The following day, over at Hunahpu, everyone was frustrated with how much Drew slept because everyone else was working. Jeremy figured Drew would eventually quit because he can't handle the conditions.


Both tribes then met with Jeff Probst for a Reward Challenge.

Jeremy realized his wife had been voted out of the game and insisted out loud the men were taking over and targeting the women one by one on Coyopa. John announced he gave Jeremy his word he'd look after his wife but couldn't swing his alliance, and his tribemates were shocked he had been working with Val.

For the challenge, one person from each tribe had to race across a very wobbly beam while using a paddle to transfer wooden squares from one end to the other. If at any point a piece was dropped, the player would have to go back to the start and grab another from his or her stack.

The first person to get six squares from one end to the other wins Reward in the form of comfort -- a tarp, hammock, mattress in addition to pillows and blankets. The winning tribe, however, could trade all that for nice fishing gear, which Hunahpu lost out on last time around in order to receive another flint from Jeff.

Wes took on his dad Keith. Wes ended up winning Reward for Coyopa and his father got very emotional, as he appeared proud of him. Wes therefore had to select one of his own tribemates to send to Exile Island with Keith, and he picked Josh. Wes thought Josh would get along with his dad very well because the two of them had clicked.


Coyopa decided they needed fishing gear over comfort.

On his way out of the challenge, John whispered to Jeremy that he "swears" he had done everything possible to keep Val safe. Jeremy didn't believe him because Val was gone, so John immediately became Jeremy's biggest target.

On Day 7, Hunahpu determined Coyopa needed to go after John because he seemed to be the one in charge. Jeremy revealed to the tribe John had previously "said a whole bunch of racist and homosexual stuff" and gotten in "huge trouble." Julie was off crying and felt alone. She feared her boyfriend was "an open target." Missy told Julie she needed to play her own game.

Once Keith and Josh arrived to Exile Island, Keith found a clue to a hidden Immunity Idol in one of two urns. The men acknowledged that meant both Jeremy and John potentially had a clue on their respective tribes. The "Louisiana hick" and "gay guy from New York" got along wonderfully, according to Josh.

That night, John provided fish for his tribe and hoped they'd appreciate it and keep him around because of it. Meanwhile, Baylor tried to convince the younger guys to vote out John since the women were clearly in trouble. Wes and Alec both appeared to highly consider the move, but Alec told the cameras Baylor was just scrambling since she was on the bottom of the tribe. Alec still intended to go after the women.


Day 8 fell and both tribes met Jeff again for their third Immunity Challenge of the season.

For the challenge, the castaways were divided into pairs to be tethered together. One pair from each tribe had to race through an obstacle course to retrieve their tribe's colored ball. They then had to attempt to shoot the ball into a basket. The first tribe to score three points would win immunity and be safe from the next vote at Tribal Council.

Hunahpu sat out Keith, and Coyopa sat out Dale to even up the numbers.

Once the tribes were tied 2-2, Jon ended up winning it for Hunahpu. It was Hunahpu's third straight win. Natalie then yelled out to Coyopa's members to "change it up" because they continued to play their strongest castaways in challenges but continued to lose. John made a gesture, referring to Natalie as "mouth," suggesting she talked too much. She then called him out for being "a racist."

Natalie told Coyopa to vote out John because he was responsible for vote-offs thus far. She then acknowledged the article in which John had previously made controversial comments about race, gender and homosexuals. Dale backed up John as did his girlfriend Julie, saying they didn't know him as a person.


"If you were a male, I'd knock your teeth out. I mean, you look like a man, but..." John yelled out to Natalie.

"Then do it!... I'm not scared of you," Natalie aggressively repeated.

Josh said John was "playing haphazardly" and what he was doing wasn't going to help their tribe. Baylor assumed votes would be cast her way, but she firmly believed John needed to go because she didn't like how he handled himself at the challenge -- calling his comments to Natalie "harsh and mean and scary."

"Natalie called me a homophobe today. Really? My closest ally and closest friend in this game is a gay man. Actions verse accusations don't really gel there. I made a few comments back, which I regret. I shouldn't have blabbed my mouth so stinkin' much. I don't know how things are going to go tonight. I'm probably the one the girls are targeting," John said in a confessional.  

John then tried to talk the girls into voting Dale. Baylor agreed -- at least to his face -- saying it was important to keep the tribe strong. However, John was still going to vote for Baylor and assumed all the guys would side with him. The guys were onboard, and when John told Josh to vote Baylor, he said if anything went wrong, he had an idol to play.

Josh didn't know John had an idol and disapproved of his sketchiness. He didn't really want to be an ally with John anymore because the former pro ball player stood for so many things he was against. Josh was also convinced John would never use his idol on him. Josh then tried to talk Wes into voting for John. Josh suggested the two of them along with Alec and Baylor should vote for John.


Josh told Baylor that John was trying to blindside her. Josh said they couldn't let John even suspect he was going home because he had an idol to play. Wes shared the news with Alec, and Alec was concerned about the move because John was a physical asset to them.

Josh knew losing John would be breaking the five-guy alliance and getting rid of the big athlete in their tribe. However, Josh felt he could trust Baylor 100% and he didn't want her going home in John's place. Josh told the cameras John was just too much of a "wildcard" to keep around any longer.

That night, at Tribal Council, John insisted he wasn't the leader, as many people were carrying the weight of their decisions. Jaclyn noted the guys were waking up and there was a shakeup happening in the tribe. John's face read confusion and surprise, because he still thought all the guys were targeting the girls.

Jeff asked Baylor how she wanted to handle the vote, and she simply replied she'd like to remove the "dark cloud" hovering above their tribe. She also announced she'd probably be getting votes. Jaclyn said the guys needed to "grow some balls" and flip to get rid of one of their own rather than one of the two ladies left.

After each player cast his or her vote, Jeff asked if anyone would like to play a hidden Immunity Idol. John declined the opportunity, and then Jeff revealed the results. Two people voted for Baylor and four votes were cast against John. He didn't look happy but told Jeff it was "well played." Dale looked shocked.

John walked out of the game with an idol right in his pocket.


The episode concluded with footage of how each castaway voted. John and Dale voted for Baylor, while everyone else voted for John.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski