Well, If The Cap Fits…….
Posted by Steve L. on July 24th, 2005 · Comments (8)
Ask not why the Yankees passed on David Wells this winter. Just read the Boston Globe:
The Boston Globe quotes a source as saying that Red Sox left-hander David Wells is being paid $130,000 to wear a PokerStars.com cap and T-shirt to postgame news conferences that the New England Sports Network (NESN) televises. It just goes to show, once again, that money can’t buy class.
NESN should pull the MTV routine and use the computer to blur it out.
You mean “class” like Jeter (whom I happen to really like as a player), or “class” like Gary Sheffield, who threw the Yanks under the bus when it came to trade talks this year?
What money does buy, and this is all we are really worried about anyhow, is a big game hurler, with big game nerves, and a desire to win. Again, knocking Wells makes no sense at this point in his career. He’s a guy some don’t like as a person (including myself), but then again, he’s not on the team because of his personality.
FWIW – how many people really enjoy the antics of Gary Sheffield acting like the ass that he is, or Randy Johnson cursing and yelling at everyone all the time when things don’t go his way?
I love Sheffield as hitter, Schilling as a pitcher, and Wells as a pitcher…does it need to go further than that?
Also FWIW, does it make any difference if it’s Wells and a poker hat, Giambi in deoderant commercials, Torre and Jeter in Visa spots, Steinbrenner doing beer commmercials, or Posada doing Jack Daniels Porche spots on WFAN?
But again, if Yankee fans are happy with Leiter, Small, Pavano, and possibly Wright instead of a guy having a decent year overall and has seemingly kept his mouth shut (not to mention stiffled the best teams in the league this year for next to nothing money wise), by all means have fun.
Lets not be too picky on advertisement or endorsments deals players undergo here Steve, they all do it. Perhaps after Leiter makes a couple more starts and Brown (oh, I didn’t forget him!) gets rocked in three innings every time out, the stones you throw at one time a Yankee star will look even more silly than they do now.
Will be glad to hear what you think of Wells when he a) misses time down the stretch because his weight catches up to his back…which happens every year b) stares down Edgar Renteria when he fumbles a pop up in a tight situation c) forgets to tell the coaching staff that he can’t make it past the first inning in a post-season start d) punches out some guy from Framingham for no reason at all at 4 in the morning.
Who cares?
The man is paid to do a job. He’s doing it. He’s been in the league since ’87, and he’s had a weight problem ever since he was in the Blue Jays system. After 18 years in the league, he is what he is.
Since 1995, there has been two years that he has NOT thrown 200 innings; 2001 (injury) and 2004, (195+)
The man is a horse. If y’all want to harp on his missing a start in the WS, go right ahead, but don’t forget everything else that he has done in NY, among his other stops…
JohnnyC, I live in Framingham…did that actually happen?
JJay — I think the Framingham fight was hypothetical. Wells did get into a fight with a guy named Rocco at a Manhattan diner at 6 in the morning a few years ago, IIRC. Rocco brandished a butter knife or something at Wells, and later got arrested. You can’t make this stuff up.
I too predict that Boston fans will sour somewhat on Mr. Wells down the road. But I still have fond memories of his time with the Yanks. Then again, it seems his teammates didn’t like him much — when he first got traded from the Yanks, I remember hearing that nobody went to say goodbye to him, except David Cone maybe? Working on memory here again.
I agree with Brad- I really don’t care what players do for advertisements. Is that really any different than Jeter doing an add for Visa?
Wells is, has, and always will be a 250+ pitcher with bad back problems and a history of controversy…you know what you get with him.
and the Yankees have never missed him more….
But doesn’t partypoker.com sponsor that NY/Boston poker thingy both NESN and YES broadcast? So wouldn’t it be a conflict of interest to have Boomer hawking this other site on NESN?
More Wells fun: http://www.sptimes.com/2005/07/27/Rays/Francona_takes_issue_.shtml