NEW YORK &mdash “Eli!” David Wells yelled when he ran into Roger Clemens at singer Toby Keith’s charity golf event last year.
That’s what Clemens used to jokingly call his former Yankees teammate over the tall tales Wells would spin – as in, “He-lie.” Wells enjoyed throwing the name back at Clemens after the veracity of his career accomplishments were thrown into doubt by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. Clemens was once the disciplined, hardworking counterpoint to Wells’ wide-waisted, hard-partying persona. Back at Yankee Stadium on Sunday as an analyst for TBS on the anniversary of his 1998 perfect game, Wells now seems to boast a credibility many of his contemporaries lack. At a news conference before the Yankees’ 3-2 extra-inning win over Minnesota, Wells suggested that if baseball really wanted to stop performance-enhancing drug use, it should ban offenders for life. Cheats shouldn’t be allowed into the Hall of Fame, either, he said. And the three home runs Alex Rodriguez hit off Wells while with the Texas Rangers, when the slugger admits now to using steroids Wells believes they should be removed from the record books – not that he thinks it will happen. “I’m fine with that, too,” Wells said. On Clemens, he said, “I don’t want to criticize too quickly, but with the facts we have in hand, it doesn’t look good for him.”
“He’s in a mess,” Wells added. “When you’ve got Congress and the feds down your back, that’s crazy.”