DK's Dugout

In 2003 I awarded the first ever “Paul O’Neill Award” to David Wells as the least likeable player on the least likeable team in all of sports. The award was a tribute to the former Yankees rightfielder whose temper tantrums (among other horribly annoying attributes) made him an easy target for opposing fans disdain. When Wells received the ‘honor’ it was for being a player who seemed to take pride in being a slob, a drunk, a barroom fighter and an overall horrible example to children everywhere. He may have been easy to dislike and root against for reasons other than the man who the award was named for, but he was certainly easy to dislike and root against just the same.

Now, two years later, David Wells is a member of our beloved Boston Red Sox. Many people have reminded me of the “Paul O’Neill Award” since the signing, and speculated that I must be devastated to see the former Yankee now call Fenway home. But these people are all wrong. I am absolutely thrilled about having Wells as member of the Red Sox now. Why? Because as much as I may have hated David Wells as a member of the New York Yankees, Yankee fans hate seeing Wells as a member of the Boston Red Sox a million times more. That alone makes his presence on my most beloved Boston team not merely bearable but embraceable.

As everyone knows the Red Sox lost Pedro Martinez in the off-season to the New York Mets via free agency. With him went 3 Cy Young Awards, 6 All-Star appearances, and the highest winning percentage of any pitcher for any single franchise in the history of baseball. The departure of Pedro also meant Boston would be losing public enemy number one in Yankee Stadium. To me, that meant something almost as special as all of his other incredible accolades.

The New York Yankee fans have been preaching for years that the Red Sox were basically irrelevant to them. Although this is obviously untrue (how else would every Yankee fan know the year prior to 2004 when Boston last won the World Series?), it is an argument with some merit. The Red Sox fans were always chanting “Yankees Suck”, but the Yankees were steamrolling toward title after title as we in Boston watched the World Series be decided by participants from other towns. In the realm of professional sports, especially to a fan, there is nothing worse than having your team be irrelevant. Bad is one thing, but irrelevant is simply not acceptable. With Pedro pitching, I was never worried about Boston being irrelevant, not for a second.

Pedro brought out a passion in Yankee fans that I enjoyed. They were not simply rooting for New York; they were rooting just as hard (if not harder) against Boston. I’ll be honest; I enjoyed them caring that much about our team. Our team when Pedro was pitching, win or lose, was always relevant.

Now, with the 2004 season having played out the way it did, there is no doubt (Pedro or no Pedro) the World Champion Boston Red Sox are not going to have any problems being relevant these days. That is no longer even a minor issue if it had been previously. But aside from the overall rivalry of the franchises that has existed for the better part of a century, it is always nice to have current faces to exemplify that heated rivalry for the fans.

Alex Rodriguez seems to be the latest in a long line of players to have taken on the role as resident “villain” in the Bronx, since arriving prior to the 2004 season. If an explanation is needed for reasons to root against A-Rod, I ask that you step away from this article and never root for the Red Sox again. It’s that plain and simple. To an avid Yankees fans the same could have been said for Pedro during his time in Boston. It was one of the things that I loved most about him…. how much they seemed to hate him.

And though the void of his wins, strikeouts and awe-inspiring performances is not one that can be filled by one man alone, Pedro’s status as most hated opponent in Yankee Stadium can be. That one man is David Wells.

For those Sox fans that were bothered by seeing the likes of Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens wearing pinstripes, Wells should be especially embraced. Yankee fans loved having Boggs and Clemens for the simple fact that it drove Boston fans batty. Any good performances those two gave was basically icing on the cake…with the cake itself being how much Sox fans hated seeing it. With Wells, we finally have some cake of our own.

David Wells was not just liked in the Bronx; he was loved in the Bronx. How many visiting players, especially former Yankees that left to join another team, receive standing ovations upon their return to New York? That is exactly the reception Wells got last year from Yankee fans while pitching for the San Diego Padres. To New Yorkers he was “one of them”, and they loved him even after he was gone. Now he’s “one of us”, and they absolutely hate it. It’s great.

Fortunately Wells is more than just a token villain to annoy New Yorkers. He is also a quality left-handed starting pitcher, something the Red Sox haven’t had since Bruce Hurst (sorry Frank Viola fans 25-21 over three seasons doesn’t count as ‘quality’). Although Wells himself didn’t showcase much quality in his Red Sox debut on Opening Day, this is a veteran who is not going to allow one start to shake his confidence. A person does not win 212 major league ballgames by having their confidence easily shaken.

Although he did get the nod in the opener, the Red Sox did not bring David Wells aboard to be the savior of the staff by any means. Curt Schilling, who will be returning shortly, more than aptly handles the duties of staff ace. Matt Clement is certain to be an upgrade over Derek Lowe’s 2004 performance, and fellow newcomer Wade Miller could be the best pickup of the off-season if he is able to get healthy and contribute sometime soon. Add to the rotation returnees Tim Wakefield and Bronson Arroyo, and Wells will simply be asked to “do his job” as a part of the whole. For a pitcher who hasn’t had an ERA higher than the league’s ERA since 1996, wins should pile up quite nicely with the run support he is sure to receive from the Boston bats. Even D-Lowe himself, whose disgusting 5.42 ERA last season was well above the league ERA, managed a winning 14-12 record in his final Fenway season. In other words, great things could happen for Wells this year without him even needing to pitch great.

It is said of many sports villains that fans would “love them if they were on your team”. I agree with this statement, but it is not true for everyone. On this year’s Yankees alone I couldn’t imagine rooting for Alex Rodriguez, Mike Mussina or Kevin Brown under any circumstances. But Wells is different. There is something inherently likeable about the guy. Qualities that annoyed me when he was the opposition are now endearing. He is ‘everyman’ with his baldhead, unshaven face and rotund physique. It’s almost like rooting for myself. I was even amused by his wearing of #3. Not because of anything to do with Babe Ruth, but simply because I can’t remember any Red Sox pitcher in history ever wearing a single digit number (can anyone out there prove me wrong?).

Ignore what Wells did in the opener. There are a million reasons/excuses for his off-performance, and I’m not going to waste energy worrying about 1/162nd of the season unless it becomes a trend instead of an aberration. For now, people should simply root for the newest Red Sox to help us win it all again. He is one of us now, so let’s embrace him. And the more we embrace Wells the more it will annoy Yankee fans. This will be especially painful for them when they see him sipping champagne in October with “BOSTON” written across his chest.

I can almost see some New York writer getting ready to give David Wells the first ever “Pedro Martinez Award” already. I love it.