05/17/09 3:41 PM ET Speaking on the 11th anniversary of his perfect game at Yankee Stadium, Wells said Sunday that Major League Baseball should
give harsher penalties than the 50-game suspension that the Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez recently received, and even floated the idea of a lifetime ban for a first offense. “Just ban them right out of the get-go I think that would be great,” Wells said. “No 50-game suspension. Ban them right away, that would stop it in a heartbeat — especially with the money they are giving out today. It would be incredible if they did that. You wouldn’t have to worry about steroids or HGH.” Rodriguez has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during three seasons of his career with the Texas Rangers. Clemens has sworn under oath to Congress that he has never used PEDs and maintains that stance to this day. Wells was at Yankee Stadium working his second game as a color commentator for TBS, calling the action with Chip Caray and Ron Darling as the Yankees played the Twins — just as they did on May 17, 1998, when Wells retired 27 straight Minnesota batters to throw baseball’s 15th perfect game. On the topic of Rodriguez, Wells said that the home runs that A-Rod hit during the years he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs — from 2001-03 — should not count. Rodriguez hit 156 homers over that span, but Wells was speaking specifically about the three he served up to Rodriguez. “He claimed he was on the juice so, no, they shouldn’t count,” Wells said. “I had a high enough ERA anyway. You can’t do anything about it. I guess it really wasn’t an issue back then.”
Wells said that players who have tested positive or admitted to steroid use should not be admitted to the Hall of Fame, regardless of their career statistics. Wells said that while he feels for Clemens, he believes the mounting evidence makes it appear that the seven-time Cy Young Award winner did use performance-enhancing drugs.