David Wells: ‘Players that cheat should be banned after first offense’
Former MLB pitcher David Wells tossed a few high hard ones at Alex Rodriguez and Roger Clemens this past weekend, saying that any player that cheats the game should be banned from baseball after the first offense.
Wells said the home runs that Rodriguez hit during the time he admitted he was on steroids shouldn’t count, including the three he jacked against Wells in 2003. He also questioned Roger Clemens’ veracity on his constant denials that he never juiced, and said all steroids cheats should be banned from baseball after the first offense and have no shot at getting into the Hall of Fame.
“I think that would be great. No 50-game suspension. Ban them right away,” Wells said. “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.”
Why do players abuse steroids? So they can post incredible numbers, assault records, extend their careers, sign big contracts.
“It (stinks) because of the fact that these guys are playing dirty and that’s not fair to the guys who busted their butt all those years to try and stay here and just didn’t have what it took,” Wells said.
If baseball truly wanted to stop player’s use of performance-enhancing drugs, they would take on Wells’ philosophy. No player in their right mind would risk taking steroids if they knew a positive test would result in a lifetime ban from the game. (Well, maybe I shouldn’t suggest that no player would risk using, because I’m sure some nitwit would do it anyway thinking he’d never be caught.)
One thing to note is that MLB wouldn’t be able to make this rule retroactive because if they didn’t think it was important to have a testing policy in place 10 years ago, then they shouldn’t be able to ban a player who admitted using during that time. So guys like A-Rod and Andy Pettitte would be given a free pass for now.
But a lifetime ban would put the responsibility back into the players’ hands – where everything starts anyway. If a player isn’t sure that a supplement or medication will get him banned, he needs to check with a team doctor and have it authorized. That way everyone knows what’s going into these players’ bodies and therefore there wouldn’t be any surprises. And this wouldn’t just help keep the game clean, but it would also show that MLB cares about the players’ long-term health, too. It seems to be a win-win for all parties involved.
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Ha! This from the guy that threw a perfect game while drunk.
I get where he’s coming from, but MLB will never do what he’s asking, nor will the Players’ Association. Too much money hangs in the balance, for all of them.
Is this an Ole Yankee Blog ? Looks like he’s dropping a dime on his boys ?
I never thought I’d hear it from Wells, but he is absolutely right. The game is the important thing. Not stars, not big money, not the long ball. Can it get anymore fucked up? First fire Bud Selig. Get someone who will preserve the integrity of the game.
Oh,great,another stupid white boy brown-nosing the millionaire bosses at the players’ expense.Look,
pardner,I’m 56,have been a baseball fan for 51 years,number Ferguson Jenkins as a second cousin(along with Super Bowl XLI Winning Coach Tony Dungy)and say that,as the saying goes,the players were the pianists in the owner-(and Commissioner
Allan-he’s too sleazy to be called a good ol’ boy name like “Bud” Selig)-run bordello.Think about it-since attendance at MLB games had significantly impaired since the 1994-’95 owner-player greed-fest which cancelled the 1994 World Series for the first time since 1903,whom do you boys
think profited most from Bonds’,McGwire’s,Sosa’s,
Palmeiro’s,Sheffield’s,etc.blasts most?Sure,the big boys got paid,but who do you think had the
financial were-withal to cut those humongous
cheques?Remember:Athletes are RICH;they must work for their money,thus they’re admittedly high-paid
toilers.Owners(bosses)are WEALTHY;THEIR MONEY WORKS FOR THEM!!!!
Furthermore,given that 40 years ago,pitchers were permitted to routinely throw 300+ inning seasons
(In 1971,the Detroit Tigers south-paw Mickey Lo-
lich started 45 games,completed 29,and worked an astonishing 376 innings,and his team-mate Denny Mc
Lain pitched 336 innings in his epic 31-6 1968
campaign,and 325 frames in ’69,when he went 24-9
and had nine shut-outs;this extreme over-work,a-
long with his off-field drepidations,ended his
career at 28),I doubt the owners care about players’ health,though the powerful MLBPA forces the big-wigs not to abuse their millions-of-dol-
lars assets.)