<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=0 width=490 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top>Wells Arrives, Jumps Right In The Fray
By Jerry Beach
Date: Feb 18, 2005
It took David Wells all of one press conference to live up to his reputation as a free-speaking rabble-rouser.
Wells, whose mouth has gotten him in plenty of trouble during his nearly two-decade big league career, arrived in Ft. Myers Thursday and, to the surprise of no one, instantly injected himself into the scalding Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
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Wells had two tours of duty in the Bronx, and in 2003 alone, he said he’d love to be the guy who blew up Fenway Park and joined Roger Clemens and Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre in delivering a toast to Babe Ruth’s monument after the Yankees’ ALCS win. Now that he’s wearing a Red Sox uniform and cashing Red Sox checks, Wells is singing an entirely different tune.
Two days after Trot Nixon said Alex Rodriguez wasn’t a true Yankee, Wells agreed with his new teammate, saying he didn’t think Rodriguez should have referred to the Yankees as “we” when he discussed the team’s recent championship history.
“I remember reading the press conference or something when he went there—he said ‘when we,’” Wells told reporters. “He said a ‘we’ in his comment about like he’s won like three or four rings with them and he hadn’t, and that kind of disturbed me.
“He shouldn’t put himself in that category. You’ve got to earn it. It’s like he’s been there the whole time.”
Wells also confirmed what everyone in baseball already knew: Stottlemyre and Yankees manager Joe Torre have no love lost for Wells and his boisterous, controversial ways.
“I’ve never had a good relationship with Joe,” Wells said. “We’ve had a few run-ins and Mel Stottlemyre as well, and Mel’s probably the best pitching coach I probably ever had. But just when you have run-ins like that, it just leaves a sour taste, and who needs it?”
Despite his differences with the Yankees’ on-field hierarchy, Wells called Yankees general manager Brian Cashman after last season and said he’d be interested in a third go-round. Cashman told him the Yankees were going in a younger direction.
“Then they turn around and sign Randy [Johnson],” Wells said.
Technically, Cashman told the Yankees the truth: Johnson is almost four months younger than Wells.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
SCHILLING
WELLS
ARROYO
MILLER
CLEMENT/WAKEFIELD
By Jerry Beach
Date: Feb 18, 2005
It took David Wells all of one press conference to live up to his reputation as a free-speaking rabble-rouser.
Wells, whose mouth has gotten him in plenty of trouble during his nearly two-decade big league career, arrived in Ft. Myers Thursday and, to the surprise of no one, instantly injected himself into the scalding Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=3>
Wells had two tours of duty in the Bronx, and in 2003 alone, he said he’d love to be the guy who blew up Fenway Park and joined Roger Clemens and Yankees pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre in delivering a toast to Babe Ruth’s monument after the Yankees’ ALCS win. Now that he’s wearing a Red Sox uniform and cashing Red Sox checks, Wells is singing an entirely different tune.
Two days after Trot Nixon said Alex Rodriguez wasn’t a true Yankee, Wells agreed with his new teammate, saying he didn’t think Rodriguez should have referred to the Yankees as “we” when he discussed the team’s recent championship history.
“I remember reading the press conference or something when he went there—he said ‘when we,’” Wells told reporters. “He said a ‘we’ in his comment about like he’s won like three or four rings with them and he hadn’t, and that kind of disturbed me.
“He shouldn’t put himself in that category. You’ve got to earn it. It’s like he’s been there the whole time.”
Wells also confirmed what everyone in baseball already knew: Stottlemyre and Yankees manager Joe Torre have no love lost for Wells and his boisterous, controversial ways.
“I’ve never had a good relationship with Joe,” Wells said. “We’ve had a few run-ins and Mel Stottlemyre as well, and Mel’s probably the best pitching coach I probably ever had. But just when you have run-ins like that, it just leaves a sour taste, and who needs it?”
Despite his differences with the Yankees’ on-field hierarchy, Wells called Yankees general manager Brian Cashman after last season and said he’d be interested in a third go-round. Cashman told him the Yankees were going in a younger direction.
“Then they turn around and sign Randy [Johnson],” Wells said.
Technically, Cashman told the Yankees the truth: Johnson is almost four months younger than Wells.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
SCHILLING
WELLS
ARROYO
MILLER
CLEMENT/WAKEFIELD
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