David Wells now head coach of his alma mater, Point Loma

SAN DIEGO – It’s 2 o’clock on a typically brilliant San Diego afternoon and David “Boomer” Wells is on the mound at David Wells Field.

OK, technically he’s just in front of it, setting up a pitching machine to run his Point Loma Pointers through situational hitting drills.

Eight seasons after throwing his last big league pitch, Wells is now head coach at his alma mater, which he pitched to a city championship 33 years ago.

Who could have ever imagined Wells, the wild child from gritty Ocean Beach, being a high school head coach?

It certainly wasn’t in his post-career plans.

“Not at all,” Wells said. “I would have never in a million years thought I’d be doing this. I’ve been trying for the last seven years to get into the big leagues and failed miserably. I mean, I thought with all the knowledge and the big games that I’ve pitched and being in the playoffs constantly, I know pitching. I know pitching as good as or better than anybody else that’s ever played.”

The answer has always been no.

“I think they look at the fact that when I played, I was outspoken,” the 51-year-old Wells said. “I did my job very well. But I’m a grown man. I can do what I want to do, sometimes burning the candle at both ends. Those things happen, but I’m not that guy. If I’m going to take a job and be serious about it, I’m not the guy who played. I’m the guy that’s applying for a job and trying to help out the organization. I don’t think they’ve gotten over that yet. But it’s no big deal.”

The mystique of Boomer Wells runs deep, from growing up in the middle of a Hells Angels gang to pitching a perfect game for the New York Yankees in 1998 with what he later described as “a skull-rattling hangover.” (Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game for the Yankees in the 1956 World Series, also attended Point Loma High).

Wells got a shout-out from Mick Jagger when the Rolling Stones played at San Diego’s Petco Park in 2005. He’s been a Midnight Rambler and a Street Fighting Man.

He pitched for nine teams, including twice with his hometown Padres, won two World Series rings, was a three-time All-Star and had a 239-157 record before finishing up in 2007.

Now he’s in charge of 20 teenagers.

And they love it.

“He’s been more straightforward. Everyone is more focused since he’s been around,” junior co-captain Seth Urbon said. “The whole vibe changed. Everybody wants to play more. They want to play for him. It’s a really good environment around the program.”

During winter ball, Wells brought in former big leaguers Alan Trammell, Vince Coleman and Jamie Moyer to work with his players, and had Heath Bell throw batting practice as he prepared for spring training.

Wells loves being around the players and watching them develop.

“To me that’s just as good as if not better than being in the big leagues, except they get paid up there and I don’t get paid here,” Wells said with a laugh.