DUMB AND DUMBER

The Yankees fined David Wells $100,000 yesterday for the sins of tarnishing the Yankee image. Oh, brother. Coming from George Steinbrenner, that sure is rich. Quite frankly, I don't see how the punishment will do anything but boost the sales of Wells book.

Vic Ziegel hit the nail on the head in the Daily News this morning:

Has there been a more tiresome spring training story than David Wells, his perfect game, and his imperfect book?

Mike Lupica was in fine form today too:

George Steinbrenner, hiding behind his team president and his general manager, now fines David Wells $100,000 for the crime of being David Wells. Wells lets him do it, after writing a book that is supposed to show that he's not just loud and obnoxious, but a real tough character as well. They both come up looking like phonies. It is why they are made for each other.

...The real beauty of what happened yesterday is an owner who never knows when to shut up fining one of his pitchers for not knowing when to shut up.

An owner who wrote the book on embarrassing the Yankees fines David Wells for writing a book that he thinks embarrasses the Yankees. It frankly doesn't get much better than that.

...You know the only thing that would make the whole thing go away? Wells going away. Only he's staying. It means Wells' season will be more entertaining than his book, too.

It was easier in the old days, when Billy Martin was the one drinking too much, and embarrassing the Yankees more than the owner. Steinbrenner would just fire him. Only now he's stuck with Wells and the irony is pretty wonderful, if you ask me:

George Steinbrenner can't fire Boomer Wells, who brags about drinking too much, because of a deal the two of them cut in a bar.