Former Yankee David Wells on Thursday overturned the decision by Major League Baseball to move the All-Star Game from Atlanta, in protest of Georgia’s new GOP-led election reform bill.
The two-time world champion pitcher told The News of the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News Radio that the move by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred caused him to stop watching games.
“I’ve had a lot to do with Rob Manfred in my playing days, and I never liked the man,” Wells said during the interview.
“To me, how do you change the games, the dynamics and hurt a city like Atlanta that really needs an income in that situation?” said the left-handed stocking on the program. “I mean, Atlanta is a great place to play baseball.”
The controversial measure in March tightened restrictions on absenteeism and allowed the state to take control of local electoral systems.
The bill is seen by Democrats as a step to suppress minority votes in Georgia after the historic red state turned blue for federal elections in 2020. Republicans claim the reforms improve electoral integrity.
MLB and the Players Association have moved the 2021 Midsummer Classic out of state after critics called on companies doing business in Georgia to protest the law.
Wells said the decision convinced him to throw in America’s pastime.
“I’m not watching baseball anymore, Brian,” he said on the radio program. ‘I refuse to watch it because of this. I do not want any part of it, and it was my life … For me not to want to go to a baseball game or even watch it kills me, because I do not tolerate that kind of shit, and I do not condone it. ”
Wells, who was once a perfect match for the Bombers while ‘half drunk’, told Kilmeade he would file a protest of his own if he were still playing.
“If I were playing now, Brian, I would not be wearing that Nike,” Wells said of the clothing company’s agreement with national anthem Colin Kaepernick.
“I’m going to break it down. I cut a hole in my jersey and had Nike on nothing, and if I get suspended, so be it. ‘
‘Dis [Kneeling for the national anthem is] “Contempt for our flag, disrespect for our military guys, and I do not stand for that,” Wells apparently said.