White Sox Get Proven Ace in Wells

David Wells, a 20-game winner who recently ripped Toronto’s front office and fans, was traded by the Blue Jays to the Chicago White Sox in a six-player deal Sunday.

The American League Central champion White Sox sent pitchers Mike Sirotka, Kevin Beirne and Mike Williams and outfielder Brian Simmons to Toronto for Wells and pitcher Matt DeWitt.

“Certainly David Wells will be missed,” Blue Jay General Manager Gord Ash said. “He was an important guy for us, but it’s time for him to move on.”

Wells, 37, will join his sixth team. He was 20-8 last season with a league-best nine complete games in 35 starts. Wells is 8-1 record in 19 postseason games.

“We had the opportunity to acquire one of the premier left-handers in the league,” new White Sox General Manager Kenny Williams said.

Wells was on his honeymoon in New Zealand, and neither the White Sox nor Blue Jays could reach him with news of the trade.

Earlier this month, Wells said the Blue Jays’ organization was not doing enough to win. He also said Blue Jay fans “stink.”

Winter Sports

Benjamin Raich led an Austrian sweep of the top five places in the slalom at Wengen, Switzerland, to cap the most dominating performance by a nation in this event in World Cup history. Raich won in 1 minute 44.42 seconds.

U.S. speedskaters Jennifer Rodriguez of Miami and Derek Parra of San Bernardino won individual titles, ending three days of racing against Canada’s national team in regional qualifying for the World Allround Championships at West Allis, Wis.

Janica Kostelic of Austria won a World Cup slalom at Flachau, Austria, for the sixth time this season, sweeping her races in a combined time of 1 minute 35.94 seconds.

Germany’s Gunda Niemann won the women’s title at the European Speed Skating Championships by winning the 5,000 meters in 7 minutes 5.67 seconds at Baselga Di Pine, Italy. Russia’s Dmitry Shepel finished fifth in the 10,000-meter race but edged Belgium’s Bart Veldkamp to take the men’s overall title.

Miscellany

The U.S. women’s soccer team received outstanding goalkeeping from Hope Solo as it tied China, 1-1, in an exhibition game in nearly freezing weather at Hangzhou, China.

Jennifer Lalor scored for the U.S. in the 17th minute and Fan Yunjie tied the score with a header four minutes later.

Chilean soccer star Ivan “Bam Bam” Zamorano scored three goals in his first start for Mexico club America in a 5-1 rout of Santos before 95,000 fans at Mexico City’s Azteca stadium.

Police used clubs to beat back fans trying to storm the field during a soccer game between Liberia and the Republic of Congo at Monrovia, Liberia. Liberia won the African Cup of Nations qualifier, 5-1.

In another African Cup qualifier, Egypt beat Libya, 4-0, in the first soccer game in 23 years between the neighboring countries at Cairo.

Fiat, one of the main sponsors of the Tour de France, reportedly is reviewing its financial support of the race because of the drug scandal that has damaged the cycling showcase.

The scandal “will eventually discourage” the Italian car manufacturer from remaining a sponsor, Jean Rol-Tanguy, a spokesman for Fiat France, said in the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche.

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Wells’ Numbers

Regular-season statistics for David Wells:

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Year Team IP W-L ERA 1987 Tor 291/3 4-3 3.99 1988 Tor 641/3 3-5 4.62 1989 Tor 861/3 7-4 2.40 1990 Tor 189 11-6 3.14 1991 Tor 1981/3 15-10 3.72 1992 Tor 120 7-9 5.40 1993 Det 187 11-9 4.19 1994 Det 1111/3 5-7 3.96 1995 Det-Cin 203 16-8 3.24 1996 Bal 2241/3 11-14 5.14 1997 NYY 218 16-10 4.21 1998 NYY 2141/3 18-4 3.49 1999 Tor 2312/3 17-10 4.82 2000 Tor 2292/3 20-8 4.11 Tot. 23062/3 161-107 4.06

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