David Wells Threatens to “Knock Out” Joe Torre

In "The Yankee Years," Joe Torre writes that both Kevin Brown and David Wells made his life miserable "but only Wells meant to." Wells, despite spending his entire career priding himself on being a rebel, took offense to that and hit a couple of radio shows to show he can handle it in a mature way.

Wells said he would "knock out" Torre the next time they met and called the former Yankee manager, who is 69, a "punk." He complained that Torre played favorites, which made him a "bad individual" to Wells, who claims that he never tried to make anyone's life miserable. The lefty also had a problem with the way Torre dealt with him in the clubhouse.

"[Torre] would always turn it down and I would turn it up," Wells said. "I would tell him, 'If you have a problem, go in your office and shut the door.' He didn't make it so, 'Would you please do this?' He went there and turned it off. So, I said alright and I'd turn it back up."

Just so it's clear, Torre was Wells' boss and Wells said that if he had a problem, he should go screw himself. That tends to engender a negative reaction, especially when you're the type of pitcher who quits during a World Series game and admits that you were half-drunk while pitching a perfect game. This is a story you tell to illustrate what kind of teammate and person Wells was with the Yankees, not Torre.

It's funny that Wells threatened to knock Torre out. Is there anyone less threatening than Wells? Remember he caught a serious beating from a 5-foot-7 assailant at a Manhattan diner before answering, and remember that his feelings got hurt any time someone said anything negative about him.

When people like Wells start calling Torre names, it's a pretty good sign that Torre's doing something right.  

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