David Lee Wells (born May 20, 1963) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams, most notably the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Boomer", Wells was considered one of the league's top left-handed pitchers during his career and made three All-Star appearances. In 1998, he pitched the 15th perfect game in baseball history. Wells also appeared in the postseason as a member of six teams, tied for the most with Kenny Lofton, and won two World Series titles. Following his 2007 retirement, Wells served as a broadcaster for MLB on TBS and was the host of The Cheap Seats on FOXSports.com.
Wells was born in Torrance, California. His parents were never married. He was raised by his mother, Eugenia, a member of the Hells Angels also known as "Attitude Annie". Wells grew up with the belief that his father, David Pritt, was dead. However, at the age of 22, he learned that Pritt was alive and tracked him down to start a new relationship with him.
Growing up in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego where he attended local public schools, Wells was dependent on his mother, who worked numerous jobs to support him and his four siblings. He graduated from Point Loma High School, where he played baseball and basketball, in 1982 and was a self-described "gym rat" who spent most of his time at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center and Robb Field. Wells was Point Loma High School’s star pitcher and threw a perfect game his senior year.
He had Tommy John surgery in July 1985.
Wells debuted for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1987 as a reliever and did not secure a primary role in the starting rotation until he was 27 years old, starting 25 games during the 1990 season. During his six seasons with the Blue Jays, Wells compiled a 47–46 record and a 3.88 ERA. Wells was a member of the 1992 World Series winning team, the first time he got a championship ring. He was released by the Blue Jays during spring training on March 30, 1993.
A few days after he was released by the Blue Jays, Wells signed with the Detroit Tigers on April 3. In 1993, Wells made 32 appearances (30 starts) with an 11–9 record and a 4.19 ERA. In 1994, a season that was cut short due to a strike, Wells started 16 games, finishing 5–7 with a 3.96 ERA and 5 complete games. He emerged as a top-flight pitcher in 1995, when he was 32. After starting the year at 10–3 with a 3.04 ERA for the struggling last-place Tigers, Wells made his first All-Star Game appearance.
On July 31, Wells was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for C. J. Nitkowski, Mark Lewis, and minor leaguer Dave Tuttle. With Cincinnati, Wells compiled a 6–5 record and a 3.59 ERA.
After the 1995 season, Wells was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Curtis Goodwin and minor leaguer Trovin Valdez. In 1996, he pitched a then-career high 224 innings but finished with an 11–14 record and a 5.14 ERA.
In 1997, Wells signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees, his favorite team because of a lifelong interest in baseball legend Babe Ruth. He asked for uniform number 3, Ruth's long-retired number, but was denied. He ended up taking 33 for the Yankees. On June 28, 1997, Wells took the mound wearing an authentic 1934 Babe Ruth hat, which he had bought for $35,000. Manager Joe Torre made Wells take it off after the first inning because it did not conform to uniform standards. He also fined Wells $2,500, which Wells was happy to pay and later said it was a small price to pay for the thrill of wearing the hat on the field even for one inning—even though Wells then blew a 3–0 lead as the Cleveland Indians won 12–8. After posting a 16–10 mark in 1997, Wells pitched very well in the Yankees' record-setting 1998 season. He rang up an 18–4 record, finished fifth in the league in ERA (3.49), was third in voting for the Cy Young Award, and won a second World Series ring.
On May 17, 1998, Wells pitched the 15th perfect game in baseball history, when he blanked the Minnesota Twins, 4–0. Wells attended the same San Diego high school, Point Loma High School, as Don Larsen, whose perfect game for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series was the only perfect game or no-hitter ever thrown in postseason play until 2010, and was until then the only perfect game thrown by a Yankee. (David Cone would add a third Yankee perfect game in 1999 and Domingo Germán an MLB-record fourth in 2023.) Wells claimed that he threw the perfect game while having a "raging, skull-rattling hangover". Comedian Jimmy Fallon, who partied with Wells the night before the game, backed up this claim.
On September 1, 1998, Wells came fairly close to recording a second perfect game. Pitching against the Oakland Athletics, he allowed no walks and only two hits, the first of which came with two outs in the seventh inning when Jason Giambi fought off an 0–2 count and singled.
Second stint with the Toronto Blue Jays (1999–2000)
After the season, Wells returned to the Blue Jays as part of a trade for Roger Clemens, along with Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd. He continued to win north of the border, with records of 17–10 and 20–8 over the next two years.
During this stint with the Blue Jays, Wells appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated just prior to the 2000 All Star Game. Though Wells said it was an honour to be on the cover, he criticized the article, "The David Wells Diet: Chips, Beer and American League batters" written by Jeff Pearlman, saying that Pearlman focused on Wells's diet and body shape instead of his accomplishments.
Wells and pitcher Matt DeWitt were traded to the Chicago White Sox, in a deal that was quickly mired in controversy. The primary player being traded by the White Sox, starting pitcher Mike Sirotka, was injured at the time of the deal and never pitched in the major leagues again. Toronto's general manager, Gord Ash, had not made the deal contingent on the results of a medical examination, however, and MLB ruled in favor of the White Sox. The Blue Jays thus received only Kevin Beirne, Brian Simmons, and minor leaguer Mike Williams, and the mistake ultimately cost Ash his job.
The deal did not turn out particularly well for the White Sox, either, as Wells struggled with back problems in 2001 and pitched only 100+2⁄3 innings, finishing the 2001 season with a 5–7 record and a 4.47 ERA.
Second stint with the New York Yankees (2002–2003)
After a short season with the White Sox, Wells returned to the Yankees, a deal that was again immersed in controversy as he had already reached an oral agreement to join the Arizona Diamondbacks. Despite having lost some velocity from his fastball, he retained his excellent curveball and his control, and posted an outstanding 19–7 record in 2002.