Former Major League Baseball pitcher David Wells has never been one to hold back, on and off the field. The former New York Yankees pitcher, who threw a perfect game in 1998, recently shared some thoughts on former Sports Illustrated writer Jeff Pearlman, and now Pearlman has responded.
During an appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast Wednesday, Wells shared several anecdotes about his career as well as thoughts on his teammates and players he faced. Toward the end of the interview, Wells was asked about an article that Pearlman wrote in SI and he shared some thoughts on how he felt it misrepresented him.
“I never did the story, so…” said Wells. “That Jeff guy or whoever, the one who did [John] Rocker, he followed me around for two weeks. I told him to get the hell away from me. He was a douchebag. That was a story that was blemished or whatever.”
The article in question was Pearlman’s SI piece from 2000 that focused on the then-Toronto Blue Jays pitcher and touched on the matter of his weight and overall health while continuing to put up solid numbers on the mount.
David Wells is fat. Not phat. Fat. He is not a work in progress, not a lug trying to shed some pounds, not a Weight Watchers washout. Over the past 13 years, since Wells broke in as a reliever with the Toronto Blue Jays, players and trainers and managers and general managers and owners have spent time–too much time–trying to convince themselves and the rest of the world that Wells was a fat guy in search of a skinny body. Nothing could be further from the truth. Wells is a fat guy who is content being fat, and if he is in search of anything, it is a beer: Coors Light, in a bottle, please. Everything about Wells is fat. The three likenesses of family members tattooed on his upper body are fat. The dark-brown goatee that could comfortably house a family of six robins is fat. His fingers and toes, his ears and nose, his forehead and chin(s) are fat. Even his voice sounds fat, the words spewing forth in a husky tone, with a fleshiness to them.
Pearlman, who often takes to social media to share stories about the players he’s covered over the years, shared some background on that piece in 2020 as part of a Twitter thread, admitting that the lede didn’t quite match the intent of the story.
“In 2000, [Sports Illustrated] assigned me a piece on Wells, who had been traded to the Blue Jays,” wrote Pearlman. “For some reason, Wells was pissed at SI, and he wouldn’t talk to me. Said I could take part in group interviews, but no one-on-one. Which happens. So I wound up writing a piece, and it [became] my second cover story for the magazine. Big, big moment for me. The piece was about how great Wells was, despite his physique. I actually wanted to celebrate his uncanny gift to be big and terrific simultaneously. But, well, my lede was sorta tone deaf in hindsight. It sounded one way to me—but Wells seemed genuinely insulted. He later admitted he never actually read the piece, but someone clearly at least told him about the lede. The quote that killed me—just killed me—was, ‘The guy screwed John Rocker and all of a sudden I’m victim No. 2.’ Because the piece was truly a celebration of Wells with a shitty, poorly executed lede.”
He’s also said similar things about the article in subsequent social media posts.
Thursday, Pearlman caught wind of Wells’ interview and, as he is wont to do, took to social media to respond and push back.
@jeffpearlmanauthor David Wells was lying about me yesterday #davidwells #mlb #writersoftiktok ♬ original sound – Jeff Pearlman
“I just want to say, first of all, David Wells is full of shit. Truly full of shit,” said Pearlman in a TikTok video. “First of all, that whole story is mangled.”
Pearlman explains the story of what happened similarly to the above thread. He says that he covered Wells for two days, saying that there’s no way he was there for two weeks as that wasn’t SI policy.
“Through the years, he’s been nothing but an asshole,” added Pearlman. “The thing that’s interesting about David Wells… guy played on nine different teams. There’s a reason for that. Number one, teammates didn’t really like him. He was a pain in the ass, he was a diva, he was demanding, he was annoying, he was obnoxious, he was a ‘loud music in the clubhouse’ guy even when people didn’t want it. Just an annoying, annoying player who tested Joe Torre’s patience a million times.
“Number two was his weight. This is a fact. Guy should have been a 300-game winner. He had amazing stuff. He was a great pitcher. Super savvy. But didn’t take care of himself. Period.
“You should have been one of the all-time greats and you’re not. You’re kinda a very good but forgettable Major League pitcher.”
Wells finished his 20-year MLB career with a 239-157 record, 4.13 ERA, and 2,201 strikeouts. Along with his perfect game, Wells was a three-time All-Star, two-time World Series champion, and the 1998 ALCS MVP.
There’s certainly no love lost here and we imagine this might continue to be a thing in the future, as neither man is going to stop talking about their careers anytime soon.
