Wells calls accident 'honest, ridiculous'

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Thursday, May 20, 2004 9:57 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- A freak kitchen accident involving a bar stool, wine bottle and wine glass was to blame for the severed tendon and skin lacerations that landed him on the disabled list, David Wells said Thursday.

The Padres' pitcher ended three days of silence, using the occasion of his 41st birthday to give his account of the Sunday incident that led to minor surgery on his right wrist and major speculation about the cause of the injuries.

"It's just one of those things that you never thought would happen," Wells said Thursday on a telephone conference call.

After losing to the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon, Wells returned to his San Diego home with a few friends.

According to Wells, one of the visitors was playfully slapping him on the back of his neck while he stood at his kitchen counter. When Wells turned around to make his friend stop, he took two steps toward him and accidentally tripped over a heavy, wrought-iron stool. In falling to the floor, he said he knocked over a wine bottle, which sliced his right wrist when he came down on its glass shards.

"I (also) had a glass in my right hand, and I don't know why I didn't throw it, but I landed on it and just cut my left hand up a little bit," he said.

"My left hand's fine. It's just the right one that was the worst of the cuts."

At first Wells, a left-hander, thought the damage was minor, so he pulled the glass out of his skin and wrapped his wrist in a towel. But when the pain and blood didn't go away, he decided to go to a hospital. Early Monday morning, he underwent surgery at Scripps Mercy Hospital to repair the palmaris longus tendon in his right wrist and also received stitches in his left palm.

Wells believes he was fortunate because the tendon he severed is the same one that doctors remove to utilize in Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery. Scheduled to rejoin the Padres when they travel to Colorado next week, Wells will miss both of his starts on the team's current 12-game road trip but thinks he'll be ready to pitch by June 1, when he's eligible to come off the DL.

"I'm sure I can wear a brace or something that I would be able to use to protect from anything," Wells said.

Is he concerned about his ability to swing a bat?

"No, because I (stink) at it, anyway," he deadpanned. "The best thing for me to do is bunt. I'm not worried about hitting at all."

Because of his history, Wells realizes that many won't buy the story he's peddling. He has been involved in a pair of headline-grabbing fights ---- the first in 1997, the second in 2002 ---- and detailed his love of drinking and carousing in his 2003 autobiography, "Perfect I'm Not: Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches, and Baseball." But he's not worried about public perception, either.

"It's not going to bother me," he said. "I've been in a lot of situations in my career and in my life, and I could care less what people think and say because I can turn them off.

"I know what happened, and there's going to be a lot of people who aren't going to believe me, and that's fine. It's not up to me to decide what they think.

"I don't have any reason to lie. I'm not trying to cover anything up. The bottom line is, it was an honest and ridiculous accident."

Padres on deck

UPDATE: The two teams opening new ballparks square off for the first time this season. The Phillies (22-17) have rebounded nicely from a 1-6 start, winning 10 of their last 13 games to catapult past Florida into first place in the National League East. ... The middle game of the series pits a pitcher making his first major-league start against one making his second. The Padres (23-18) promoted the 21-year-old Germano from Triple-A Portland to take the turn of the injured David Wells. Hancock, whose only start was for Boston in 2002, is filling in for LHP Randy Wolf, sidelined by elbow tendinitis. ... Wolf isn't the only key Philadelphia player dealing with injury. 1B Jim

Thome, who's tied for fourth in the NL with 11 home runs, missed the club's past two games with a sprained index finger and is questionable to play this weekend. Closer Billy Wagner (strained left groin) isn't eligible to come off the disabled list until Sunday. ... The Phillies and Padres rank third and fourth in the league in team earned-run average, respectively. ... Because of Tuesday's rainout in Pittsburgh, Lawrence be pitching on just three days' rest. ... Eaton, a former Phillies farmhand, is 0-2 with a 5.79 ERA in three career starts against Philadelphia. ... Millwood is 5-1 with a 2.58 ERA in 10 starts against the Padres. ... The Padres went 3-4 against the

Phillies last season.

---- Brian Hiro