Wells Gets a Stern Rebuke From Stewart

David Wells, the New York Yankee left-hander who faces the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the World Series tonight, recanted Friday, saying he wasn’t serious when he told radio talk-show host Howard Stern that the Yankees would win in five games. Padre pitching coach Dave Stewart didn’t seem to care if Wells was serious or not. He threw some jabs at Wells.

“Houston was supposed to win in four games and Atlanta in four or five,” Stewart said of the playoff teams San Diego has beaten. “He’s not a critic, though, just a player. He’s confident and I like that, but tell him we’ve already beaten two teams which won more games than we did.

“And we outpitched them, and they have better pitchers than David Wells. I mean, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz are some pretty good names, and I don’t think David Wells comes even next because then you have Kevin Brown. I mean, the Yankees won 114 games and have a lot of reason to be confident, but we’ve proven we can pitch with anybody.”

Said the backtracking Wells:

“I had a conversation with Howard Stern yesterday and, yes, I do call him and BS with him from time to time, have some fun with it, but sometimes when somebody says something and he keeps coming at you, you have to say something just to make him go on to another topic. But, no, I am not predicting anything in five. I think San Diego is an outstanding team, and I don’t think it is fair to myself, my teammates or anybody else out there, even the Padres, to predict anything like that.”