Wells blasts Selig, calls for his resignation
ESPN.com news services
David Wells is back blasting away at Bud Selig.
The Boston left-hander was irate Tuesday about a report that the commissioner asked the New York Yankees to remove a sign that apologized for some star players missing spring training games to play in the World Baseball Classic.
"Bud Selig needs to resign. That's what he needs to do," Wells said in a story published in Wednesday's editions of the Hartford Courant. "He needs to resign and bring someone in who's capable of communicating with the players association and the owners, as well as the players, because there's so much hatred against Bud right now. It's a joke. Nobody likes him."
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has been not-so-veiled in his opposition to the World Baseball Classic. Yankees Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Bernie Williams are not in camp and are playing in the WBC.
Steinbrenner has cited the fear of injury for his opposition. The Yankees said they didn't order that the sign be put up. It included a misspelling, calling the team Yankess.
"And he's entitled to that [opinion]. He pays a lot of money to these guys," Wells said in the Courant. "If he needs to apologize to the fans, so be it. They get a lot of traffic down there in Tampa to see the Yankees. People want to see Derek Jeter. So if he wants to post a sign that says I apologize for [him] not being here, he owns the place. If Bud has a problem with it, tell him to go take it down himself. And then I'd re-post it again."
"This is just something where Bud is bored. He has no clue. He's clueless," Wells said. "If you say something derogatory toward Bud, he wants an apology. My question is, why is he even wasting his time on something like that? What's the purpose? Does he have to let people know that he's there? Tell him to come talk to me. I've had issues with him the last few years. He said, 'Oh, we need to talk.' He said, 'I'll take you to dinner when I come to Boston.' Has he done it? [Heck] no. He's a piece of [expletive]. And you can quote me on that."
Wells and Selig have a history. Wells called Selig "an idiot" last year. Some further comments earned him a meeting with baseball executives, where Wells apologized. Selig didn't attend that meeting.
"Bud has a hard time leaving Milwaukee, let alone going out and trying to do [anything]," Wells told the Courant. "It's almost a burden for him to have to go to New York or a city like that. If he has that much passion for the game of baseball, then why isn't he doing something good for it? Name one good thing he's done for the game of baseball. "He worries about what people say about him and he Googles himself. I'm sure he's going to Google [his name] tomorrow and say, 'Oh, there's Dave talking about me.' You know what? Be a man of your words. He's ducked me for two years."
ESPN.com news services
David Wells is back blasting away at Bud Selig.
The Boston left-hander was irate Tuesday about a report that the commissioner asked the New York Yankees to remove a sign that apologized for some star players missing spring training games to play in the World Baseball Classic.
"Bud Selig needs to resign. That's what he needs to do," Wells said in a story published in Wednesday's editions of the Hartford Courant. "He needs to resign and bring someone in who's capable of communicating with the players association and the owners, as well as the players, because there's so much hatred against Bud right now. It's a joke. Nobody likes him."
Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has been not-so-veiled in his opposition to the World Baseball Classic. Yankees Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon and Bernie Williams are not in camp and are playing in the WBC.
Steinbrenner has cited the fear of injury for his opposition. The Yankees said they didn't order that the sign be put up. It included a misspelling, calling the team Yankess.
"And he's entitled to that [opinion]. He pays a lot of money to these guys," Wells said in the Courant. "If he needs to apologize to the fans, so be it. They get a lot of traffic down there in Tampa to see the Yankees. People want to see Derek Jeter. So if he wants to post a sign that says I apologize for [him] not being here, he owns the place. If Bud has a problem with it, tell him to go take it down himself. And then I'd re-post it again."
"This is just something where Bud is bored. He has no clue. He's clueless," Wells said. "If you say something derogatory toward Bud, he wants an apology. My question is, why is he even wasting his time on something like that? What's the purpose? Does he have to let people know that he's there? Tell him to come talk to me. I've had issues with him the last few years. He said, 'Oh, we need to talk.' He said, 'I'll take you to dinner when I come to Boston.' Has he done it? [Heck] no. He's a piece of [expletive]. And you can quote me on that."
Wells and Selig have a history. Wells called Selig "an idiot" last year. Some further comments earned him a meeting with baseball executives, where Wells apologized. Selig didn't attend that meeting.
"Bud has a hard time leaving Milwaukee, let alone going out and trying to do [anything]," Wells told the Courant. "It's almost a burden for him to have to go to New York or a city like that. If he has that much passion for the game of baseball, then why isn't he doing something good for it? Name one good thing he's done for the game of baseball. "He worries about what people say about him and he Googles himself. I'm sure he's going to Google [his name] tomorrow and say, 'Oh, there's Dave talking about me.' You know what? Be a man of your words. He's ducked me for two years."
