David Wells at Empire Raceway Casino on Aug. 15, 2018

Empire City Casino, Yonkers, welcomed one of New York baseball’s most popular players, David Wells, for a photo session with casino-goers on Wed., August 15, 2018. Wells spent only four seasons with the Yankees. On May 17, 1998, he threw the second perfect game in Yankees’ history and the 15th in the history of Major League Baseball. En route to the team’s 1998 World Championship, the former New York Yankees starting pitcher won the American League Championship Series MVP with two wins again Cleveland Indians.

This Saturday, August 18, 2018, The New York Yankees are honoring members of the 114 win, the first of three World Series titles, 1998 World Championship team at the Stadium. Before meeting fans at Empire City Casino, I asked Mr. Wells how he felt about seeing his former teammates from the 1998 Yankee World Series team. Mr. Wells stated, "It's just good to see the guys. There are guys I have not seen in 20 years. It's a great thing that the Yankees are doing for us, (honoring the 1998 team). They involve the families, if they want to come and enjoy the festivities which is a good gesture on the Yankees part. "

When asked if he pushed any guys from the '98 team to come to the reunion this weekend, Wells said, "No, I didn't push anyone to come. This is great thing that the Yankees are doing. Alot of teams are doing it now. I know the Padres are honoring the 1998 team at Petco Park, which is pretty cool for them. It's a milestone."
I told Mr. Wells that I did not remember him having 13 saves. Mr. Wells said that he remembered all of his saves. He reminded me that he came up as a starter, had two starts, was sent down (to the minors) and came back up as a reliever. He was a long man, a short man but never the closer but he had opportunities. He accumulated saves because he was in the bullpen for six years.

When asked if he held the perfect game in higher esteem than his World Series titles, Mr. Wells replied, "The perfect game is more of an individual award but it still was a team effort. I helped my cause in the perfect game but I had teammates behind me. The World Series stands out because we grinding it out from day one to the last out. And to me, that was alittle more special. On an Individual performance, the perfect game was nice to have because you are in an elite group. Alot of guys don't get the opportunity to win a World Championship. What made the 1998 team special was the chemistry we had. That probably tops the perfect game."

When asked the best cities when he traveled, Mr. Wells laughingly replied, "Obviously the cities that stayed open the latest: Chicago, New York." Best food? Mr. Wells said for hot dogs, "go to L.A. and get a Dodger dog. In Chicago, James Baldwin and I would always get fried chicken."

Old Yankee Stadium was his favorite ballpark to pitch in. Cleveland was the worst city for Mr. Wells fan-wise. He would get verbally abused, spit upon and no one cared. Mr. Wells said, "Where ever you were at and pitching well, the fans were great to you." "St. Louis Cardinal fans are the best in baseball, period." "They understand the game and they don't discriminiate. I have never heard a bad word come out of anyone's mouth about St. Louis. They are knowledgable, they know the game of baseball."

"When I came back to New York as a Padre, I got a standing ovation. I came back as a Red Sock and I got stuff thrown at me. People talked crap, you know. I am not the one going there, I was traded. Hell yes, I would have love to have stayed in New York but you know, I had no say in the matter."

Once or twice, Mr. Wells has worn his 1998 World Series Ring but he never wears his 1992 WS Ring. "David Justice wears his 1998 WS Ring all the time because it is a good conversation piece."