Ex-Yankee David Wells wants a harsh punishment to players who tested positive for steroid use. According to him, steroid users should be banned after first failed test. The Major League Baseball (MLB) is widely criticized for its lenient steroid policy especially now that more and more players are exposed to have used steroids during their career. “I think that would be great. No 50-game suspension. Ban them right away. That would stop it in a heartbeat, especially with the money they’re giving out today,” expressed Wells. “It would be incredible if they did that.” He also said that players who admitted of using steroid should not be elected to the Hall of Fame. “Alex Rodriguez admitted to it, so I mean the home runs he hit off me in Texas, should those count? I dunno… they say everyone’s doing it, let ‘em do it. But if they elect to do it, they are not entitled to go to the Hall of Fame if they got Hall of Fame numbers, or just ban them right out the get-go.”

Wells was part of the TBS broadcast crew at the Yankee Stadium on the 11th anniversary of his 1998 perfect Twins-Yankees game. There, he said that that he sympathizes for Roger Clemens but he thinks Clemens look guilty of using steroids. Clemens is being investigated for lying under oath to Congress. “You don’t want to criticize too quick, but the facts they have in hand, I don’t think it looks good for him,” the former pitcher said. “You hope, because what he did for the game of baseball was pretty overwhelming, but was it clean or was it dirty?”

Another baseball star, who is put on the spotlight for steroid use is Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod, who homered for a second straight day, admitted the use of anabolic steroid during his 2001-2003 stint with the Texas Rangers. During that span, Rodriguez belted 156 homers but to Wells said that the Rodriguez’s stats should be subtracted. “He claimed he was on juice, so, no, they shouldn’t count. You look at Jose Canseco when he came out and did it, they couldn’t have done anything back then because it wasn’t really an issue.”

Wells also added that Clemens constantly calls to him as Eli, a slang for “he lies.” But when he saw the Rocket at a charity golf tournament last year in Oklahoma, “I started calling him Eli, because for years, he called me Eli, you know. Whatever comes out of Boomer’s mount, he lies. Well I got payback.” He also said that the Rocket was angry but Clemens did walk over and say hello.

David Wells is considered as one of baseball’s better left-handed pitchers, especially during his time with the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. He is also one of the 17 pitchers to have a perfect game in MLB. This is the moment when he blanked the Minnesota Twins, 4-0. On August 2, 2008, he said that he was not going to officially retire, but admitted he was probably done.

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