Vernon Wells reminisces while opening 2004 Topps | Old Baseball Cards
3-time All-Star outfielder Vernon Wells joins Yahoo Sports' Mike Oz to look through packs of 2004 Topps and 1999 Fleer baseball cards.
Video Transcript
FRANK OZ: Hey, it's Mike Oz from Yahoo Sports. This is Vernon Wells, and we are going to open some old baseball cards.
- He's coming home. Here's the throw from Wells. Pujols is out! What a throw!
- The pitch drilled-- deep left center field. Heading for the wall. It's up and there she goes into the first deck!
FRANK OZ: All right, Vernon. You picked some 2004 Topps. So you were playing at that point.
VERNON WELLS: Yep.
FRANK OZ: Won a Gold Glove that year?
VERNON WELLS: Let's see-- did I? I won a Gold Glove that year. I think I did. Well, we could find out. I don't know.
FRANK OZ: I picked 1999 Fleer Ultras. You were just kind of coming to the league at that point.
VERNON WELLS: Yes, sir.
FRANK OZ: Now, you have sort of changed roles these days. You are now an agent, right?
VERNON WELLS: I am.
FRANK OZ: Just sort of started doing that. Tell us about sort of that process and why that appealed to you.
VERNON WELLS: Well, I think just being on the relationship side of the thing. My biggest thing when I played is just I wanted to be a part of guys' lives. I felt it was-- if I was going to make an impact on the game, it was going to be relationship wise. I wanted to see guys around me do better. If guys were struggling, I wanted to help them through it, but I have two boys that are 17 and 14, and I don't want to miss out on too much of their lives because you sacrifice so much when you're playing. So for me, this gives me the opportunity to kind of do both.
FRANK OZ: Cool. Let's open them up.
VERNON WELLS: All right.
FRANK OZ: 2004 Topps.
VERNON WELLS: Ramon Hernandez. OK. Obviously played against him a lot.
FRANK OZ: What is this fancy card you got?
VERNON WELLS: Oh, I got an Own the Game. Brandon Webb. He was a good one.
FRANK OZ: Brandon Webb, I feel like, does not get the props for how-- when he was, like, really dominant, he was so good.
VERNON WELLS: He was. I think just injuries kind of derailed what he was doing.
FRANK OZ: With the sinker, right? Was it just the--
VERNON WELLS: Yeah, super sinker.
FRANK OZ: Super sinker?
VERNON WELLS: Like it was-- it moved entirely too much. Maybe that was the problem. It was just his elbow couldn't stop it from moving so much. This card obviously poses a problem-- 2003 strikeout leaders. Kerry Wood, Mark Prior, and Javy Vazquez.
FRANK OZ: Also the-- what could have been for the Cubs, right?
VERNON WELLS: Oof, yeah. What could have been. If he stayed healthy. If Prior stayed healthy, he would have been special.
FRANK OZ: He's a pitching coach, now, right?
VERNON WELLS: I think so.
FRANK OZ: He's the pitching coach of the Dodgers.
VERNON WELLS: Raul Ibanez. He was actually on my flight coming here.
FRANK OZ: Nice!
VERNON WELLS: Random thought.
FRANK OZ: He's one of those guys that's sort of like-- you're waiting for him to-- what are you going to do now, right?
VERNON WELLS: Yeah.
FRANK OZ: Is he going to be a manager? Be on TV? Like--
VERNON WELLS: He can do it all.
FRANK OZ: Yeah.
VERNON WELLS: He can do anything he wants to. I think he's in the Dodgers organization now, he said. So it's a good pick for them. Josh Beckett. Now this guy-- unbelievable stuff. We faced him all the time when he was with Boston. I hit quite a few homers off of him, so I got lucky there.
FRANK OZ: Humble brag. He has been unbelievable stuff.
VERNON WELLS: Unbelievable stuff.
FRANK OZ: And I took him deep a bunch.
VERNON WELLS: It was either a homer or a strikeout, almost. Russell Branyan. Big country boy. I actually have a funny story about him. We were on a plane. So we were with the Angels at the time. I just told this story earlier today. Erick Aybar was in the bathroom, and I'm playing cards. My seat's here. Bathroom is here. Aybar goes into the bathroom, and Russ decides to hold the door so Erick can't get out of the bathroom. Erick comes out of the bathroom swinging because he was pissed. And I was like, oh-- and this is happening all behind me. I'm like, I'm trying to play cards. You guys are fighting on the plane. This is really awkward, but--
FRANK OZ: Well who won? And you won, right?
VERNON WELLS: I can't say. I don't know if punches were landed or not, but it happened. Jacque Jones. Another good out-- yeah, he was a good outfielder. He was-- when he hit home runs and he knew it, it was about as pretty as they came. Talk about pimping homers-- Jacque could do it. All right. That's all I got.
FRANK OZ: 1999 Fleer Ultra. So I don't think you would potentially be in here, but again, plenty--
VERNON WELLS: Good chance I wouldn't be in there.
FRANK OZ: Plenty of people that you would know.
VERNON WELLS: Oof.
FRANK OZ: Jaret Wright.
VERNON WELLS: We almost got into a fight with him in Triple-A.
FRANK OZ: Give me the fight-- I love the fight stories.
VERNON WELLS: Somehow--
FRANK OZ: Fight stories are why we're here.
VERNON WELLS: Yes, yes. I didn't-- he was popping off about something and I don't think his own dugout really liked him very much. I'm sure he's a lovely guy, but they didn't really like him at the time.
FRANK OZ: You're great, Jaret.
VERNON WELLS: Yeah.
FRANK OZ: Kevin Young.
VERNON WELLS: OK.
FRANK OZ: Delino-- Delino the dad.
VERNON WELLS: Delino the dad.
FRANK OZ: Delino-- yeah, who looks a lot like Delino the son.
VERNON WELLS: Yeah, looks the same.
FRANK OZ: Edgar.
VERNON WELLS: Edgar.
FRANK OZ: Now in the Hall of Fame.
VERNON WELLS: Hall of Famer, rightfully so.
FRANK OZ: Raul Mondesi.
VERNON WELLS: Oof. Played with Raul.
FRANK OZ: That's a nice little making the play type baseball card, too.
VERNON WELLS: Raul Mondesi would show up in the best vehicles in spring training of all time.
FRANK OZ: Yeah?
VERNON WELLS: Yeah.
FRANK OZ: He's like your--
VERNON WELLS: Bentleys.
FRANK OZ: Cespedes. Like Cespedes was that guy recently, right? He's your Cespedes of that era?
VERNON WELLS: Yeah, he tricked out an SUV that had a bar that was on hydraulics in his back. I was like, I don't think this is legal, but it's awesome.
FRANK OZ: Was it in Florida?
VERNON WELLS: No, it was in Toronto, so I guess it could be legal in Toronto. He had it in Florida, and then he brought it to Toronto.
FRANK OZ: Well, so everything's legal in Florida. There's no rules. No rules in Florida.
VERNON WELLS: It had lights and hydraulics, and he pushed a button, and it slid out of the back of his SUV.
FRANK OZ: So you-- this is a good time to talk about this. You also-- you have a winery now, right, with Chris Iannetta.
VERNON WELLS: Yeah, so we actually-- we played together with the Angels for one year. I got hurt, he got hurt, we're on the road, and we're having a couple bottles of wine-- two or three at a steakhouse, and decide, you know what? Let's start a winery. So I got done playing first, and we started it. Our first vintage is 2012. The Jack winery. It's been a fun project, and it's something that-- we're selling out of wine, so that's a good thing.
FRANK OZ: We got sidelined there, but Kevin Brown probably could afford some bottles of wine back when he got-- he got paid.
VERNON WELLS: Nasty stuff. Yeah, thankfully, I got to face him later on in his career. It looked like it was no fun early in the career.
FRANK OZ: Reggie Jefferson.
VERNON WELLS: Yeah.
FRANK OZ: Scott Rolen. I think underrated when you look at, like, the sort of-- how he's fared in, like, the Hall of Fame era and stuff.
VERNON WELLS: I got the chance to play with him in Toronto. He was there for a couple years, and it was a feat if you got him to smile. If you got him to laugh, you did-- you said something really funny, but he was a hard one to crack.
FRANK OZ: Barry Larkin. Another good--
VERNON WELLS: Obviously-- Hall of Famer.
FRANK OZ: Hall of Famer. All right, what strikes your fancy here for a trade?
[EXHALES]
VERNON WELLS: Well, former teammate. Well, I got a couple former teammates in there-- Rolen and Mondesi.
FRANK OZ: OK, all right. What did you have that I liked? I sometimes just like the story, so--
VERNON WELLS: Yeah, you definitely got to put him on your team, since I got-- I would get to face him.
[LAUGHTER]
FRANK OZ: All right. So you want Scott Rolen and you want Mondesi. I will do-- I will take your-- oh, I want your fancy--
VERNON WELLS: Oh, OK.
FRANK OZ: Your fancy Brandon Webb thing-- whatever that is.
VERNON WELLS: You got two aces. OK.
FRANK OZ: Yeah, I'll take that.
VERNON WELLS: Yeah.
FRANK OZ: I'll do that because I don't know what this-- this just looks like it's-- you know?
VERNON WELLS: It looks cool.
FRANK OZ: It looks fancy, man. It's a fancy looking card.
VERNON WELLS: Those are the cards you open up in a pack and like, yes! I got the good one.
FRANK OZ: I don't know what this is, but--
VERNON WELLS: I don't know what it is, but it's--
FRANK OZ: It looks cool.
VERNON WELLS: And it's cool and it's shiny.
FRANK OZ: Vernon Wells-- a lot of fun, man. Thank you.
VERNON WELLS: Thanks for having me.
[MUSIC PLAYING]