Scott Proctor's back

I never thought I'd be writing that Scott Proctor was back in pinstripes after the Yankees traded him to the Dodgers at the 2007 deadline. But life is unpredictable, and here we are.

Obviously the biggest news here is that Jesus Montero will finally be joining the big club, but Proctor's return is more poignant for me. This blog served as an outlet for me to get my long-form baseball and Yankees opinions out there, to hone my writing skills, and to pretend to be a baseball reporter.

The jokes about his arm falling off are as tired as me complaining about Jorge Posada, but for a time way back in 2007, those jokes inspired me to name this blog. Thank you, Joe Torre, for riding Proctor's arm for a ridiculous 102.1 innings way back in 2006. Wow, 2006. The year I graduated high school; the year I began college. I can't believe that was five years ago.

Proctor has always seemed like a good dude and hopefully he can take advantage of the opportunities he gets to finish out this season. It'd be foolish to expect him to get high-leverage innings out of the bullpen in a race to win the division, but the fact he's back here at all is rather astonishing. Stranger things have happened, I suppose.

My interests and goals have changed, but I'll always look back fondly on the time I had keeping up this blog and I hope you enjoyed reading it.

Maybe Scott Proctor will get a ring after all.

Proctor on the road to recovery

Tyler Kepner wrote a great piece on Scott Proctor in today’s New York Times.  In it, Proctor reveals he is a recovering alcoholic.

Proctor visited Dr. James Andrews, who described to him the state of his elbow ligament in one word: mush. Just before reconstructive surgery May 12, Proctor said, he made a bigger life decision. He quit drinking.

“I was miserable for so long, because I was living two different lifestyles,” Proctor said Saturday. “I just got to the point where enough was enough.”

Proctor said he could not recall a specific game or moment that he ruined because of alcohol. But too many late nights and too many beers caught up with him, he said, and by the time of his trade, it was obvious he had lost his chance to stay.

“When your body’s that dry from all the booze, it’s got to have an effect,” Proctor said. “You can’t be consistent when you’re doing that kind of stuff.”

It is good to hear that he is getting his life together.

At the end of the piece, Proctor says he would love to play for the Yankees again, as his contract expires at the end of this season.  He was hoping to speak with Brian Cashman, but he didn’t make the trip down to Florida.

”I pretty much have a new arm,” he said.

Update – 11:48 a.m.: Mark Feinsand also wrote about Proctor in today’s Daily News.

Torre speaks out about Proctor’s injury

Via Jim Baumbach on The Final Score blog comes this article from the South Florida Sun-Sentinal in which Joe Torre blames Scott Proctor for his elbow injury.

"He wasn't afraid of anything," Torre said. "Very aggressive. Ability aside, the fact he was a good teammate was very important."

However, Torre said Proctor did himself no favors with his willingness to pitch when less than 100 percent.

"There's playing hurt, and then there's playing stupid," Torre said. "It doesn't have anything to do with someone's intelligence. If you can endure pain and still are able to do what you do, that's one thing."
...

"He doesn't know what hurt is," Torre said. "The dumbest question I could ask him was: 'Are you OK?' Because I knew what the answer was going to be."

Well then.

It’s still Torre’s decision to bring in and eventually take out the reliever.  If you think the pitcher has had enough, you take him out.

Proctor to have Tommy John Surgery

Well, I guess we saw this coming last Thursday when Scott Proctor was sent to Dr. Andrews.

Proctor is scheduled to have season-ending Tommy John Surgery after Dr. Andrews found fraying in the ligament, according to Proctor’s agent.

Proctor still wants to pitch, which is why he’s having the surgery, his agent said.

I wish him the best of luck throughout this process.

Scott Proctor to see Dr. Andrews

Uh oh.  Joe Torre put that final pin in the Scott Proctor voodoo doll.  The namesake is traveling to Birmingham, Ala., next week to see the infamous Dr. James Andrews.

"It's worse than before," Proctor said Wednesday. "It just gets more and more frustrating. The most frustrating thing is the rest of my body feels great. I feel like a car with three tires."

Poor Scott.  Hope all ends up well.

Thanks to those who brought this to my attention.

Six degrees of Nick Swisher

This blog post by Tyler Kepner just blew my mind.  Basically, Kepner connects the signing of Ruben Rivera to the trade for Nick Swisher.

1990 – Yankees sign Rivera from Panama.

1997 – Yankees trade Rivera to Padres in Hideki Irabu deal.

1999 – Yankees trade Irabu to Expos for Jake Westbrook (and others)

2000 – Yankees trade Westbrook to Indians for David Justice

2001 – Yankees trade Justice to Mets for Robin Ventura

2003 – Yankees trade Ventura to Dodgers for Scott Proctor

2007 – Yankees trade Proctor to Dodgers for Wilson Betemit

2008 – Yankees trade Betemit to White Sox in Swisher deal

Absolutely brilliant work by Kepner.

Meanwhile, here are some words from Swisher to make you smile before you go to bed (via Peter Abraham): “I’m loving it,” he said. “It’s like I almost don’t want to wake up. I don’t want to soak it in right now. I want to keep that fire and keep that passion and keep that attitude going right now. I know in this game you’re going to go through ups and downs. But right now it’s going pretty well.”

(Photo by G. Newman Lowrance/Getty Images

Proctor shut down

The Miami Herald is reporting that Scott Proctor, now with the Marlins, won't pitch until next week at the earliest.

''He's got some issues with scar tissue [in his elbow],'' Marlins pitching coach Mark Wiley said. "He has some limited pain, and we need to get him back where he is comfortable.

"I'm hoping by next week that he will be back in a game situation.''

Wiley thinks Proctor, who is on a conditioning long-toss program, will be able to pitch soon, and he expects him to be ready to be a mainstay in the bullpen by Opening Day.

Proctor has made only one appearance this spring, throwing one scoreless inning against Baltimore last Friday.

I obviously wish Proctor the best, but none of this comes as a shock. Hopefully this is nothing serious and he can have a bounce-back season.

Thanks to those who brought this to my attention.

Yankee randomness

Tyler Kepner has a great read up on The New York Times' Bats blog (via RAB), in which he lists 25 random facts about 25 random Yankees. The namesake is even mentioned.

Scott Proctor - Named his first son Camden after Camden Yards in Baltimore. Named his second son Cooper, but not after Cooper Stadium, then the Yankees’ rundown Class AAA ballpark in Columbus.

Read the entire list - it's very entertaining. Who knew Chris Hammond knew what e-mail was?

Scott Proctor's Arm in the news

Joe Capozzi, the Marlins writer for The Palm Beach Post, e-mailed me last week to talk about the blog for a story he was doing on Scott Proctor. He published the article today.

I'm quoted five paragraphs from bottom.

Scott Proctor is charitable

Thank you, Drew, for bringing this to my attention.

Scott Proctor, his agent and his foundation are trying to make baseball more prevalent in Proctor's hometown of Stuart, Fla.

Proctor's agent donated $10,000 to help improve a baseball field, and then Proctor's M.E.'s Team Charitable Foundation donated another $10,000.

“This was one of our initial dreams,” Proctor said, “getting baseball to different groups of kids. Just growing up, I’d see one or two black kids playing baseball ... not a lot. Come to find out, rides to practice are a problem. And baseball costs a lot of money. The bats are expensive, the gloves, cleats.”

I love it when players give back to their communities. I also love it when namesakes of my blog do the same.

Scott Proctor finds a home

I appreciate the e-mails and text messages (Vazzano) telling me that Scott Proctor signed with the Marlins this afternoon. I had computer issues all day, which is why I'm only posting this now.

According to a source, Proctor signed a one-year, $750,000 deal with another $250,000 in incentives.

I'm glad he found a home, and hopefully he'll contribute in a positive fashion. He's back home - he's from Stuart, Fla. - so that's great for him and his young family.

Scott Proctor non-tendered

Scott Proctor was non-tendered by the Los Angeles Dodgers today, thus making him a free agent, according to Tony Jackson.

Proctor had elbow surgery in October to repair a partially-torn flexor tendon and shave down a bone spur in the back of his elbow.

In Yankees non-tender news, Chris Britton and Justin Christian made the list. Britton only pitched 35 2/3 innings as a Yankee and Christian stole seven bases last year.

Betemit's reign of terror is over

I was happy when I first found out the Yankees traded for Nick Swisher. I was even happier when I found out later that Wilson Betemit was included.

Betemit has been a thorn in my side since he was traded to the Yankees for the namesake, Scott Proctor.

His play on the field did nothing to change my already negative preconceived notions.

Betemit struck out 89 times as a Yankee, compared to only 12 walks. Part of his appeal was that he was a guy who would draw a lot of walks and hit for power. That was never displayed in New York. He'd hit the occasional home run, but the bad outweighed the good.

Every time his name came up in trade talks, I wanted him gone. I didn't care for whom, I just wanted him out. To get Swisher back in return was a bonus.

Vaya con dios, Wilson.

Proctor to have elbow surgery

I totally didn't see this coming.

Scott Proctor will have elbow surgery to repair a partially-torn flexor tendon and will have a bone spur in the back of his elbow shaved down, according to MLB.com's Ken Gurnick. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Joe Torre gets the last laugh, I guess.

H/T to iYankees

Scott Proctor resurfaces

Scott Proctor was activated from the 60-day disabled list and was called up by the Los Angeles Dodgers.

His last appearance was on June 21 and he has been recovering from an injured elbow since.

In three innings for Triple-A Las Vegas, Proctor struck out five and walked none. He is now back with Joe Torre once and for all.

Scott Proctor's arm headed to the DL

It's finally happened: Scott Proctor was placed on the 15-day disabled list tonight.

Apparently Proctor was hiding an injury from Joe Torre and Co. and was going to be optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas before he confessed.

"Having a little history with Scott Proctor, knowing that the guy I was watching was not really what you've seen before and knowing that he would never acknowledge that anything was wrong, you can't just all of a sudden say there's something wrong. So we were going to option him," Torre said. "I just basically told him that he needs to work out what he needs to work out and get himself straightened out."

After some more prodding, Proctor came clean with Torre. An injured player cannot be optioned to the minors.

"You love him for his heart. He has a belly full of guts and all that stuff, but he doesn't always make the right choices," Torre said. "I know the timing sounds to some people like he's just doing that to keep from going to the minor leagues. But I know him better than that. He was even willing to go down to Vegas and pitch with the injury, which made no sense to me. It's all a Band-Aid."

In 33 games for the Dodgers this year, Proctor is 1-0 with a 6.82 ERA. He has struck out 36 batters while walking 22 in 31 2/3 innings. He recorded his first win on June 10 against the Padres. In his last 4 1/3 innings, he has given up 12 hits and 11 runs (eight earned) while walking seven and striking out five.

Rasner wearing No. 43

Darrell Rasner is making his 2008 Major League debut right now, and is wearing No. 43.

Any astute Yankee fan will know that that was Scott Proctor's number when he was with the Yankees.

Yet LaTroy Hawkins was tormented for wearing No. 21. Yankee fans need to be more consistent with their booing.

Proctor on TBS

During the rain delay, I'm watching the Braves/Dodgers game on TBS.

Scott Proctor was just brought in with runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Proctor struck out pinch hitter Matt Diaz and induced a fly out to end the inning.

Meanwhile, the Yankees have Wilson Betemit on the disabled list and the bullpen is still a mess. At least Proctor could be counted on to give the team innings when needed.

Update - 4:35 p.m.: Proctor came out for the eighth inning and wasn't as successful. He gave up a one-out double, followed by a two-out triple and a two-run home run by Mark Teixeira. He now gave up a double, but Joe Torre is still sticking with him. He followed up the double with an RBI single. After a visit by Torre, Proctor is remaining in the game.

Proctor's awful night

Last night against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Scott Proctor imploded.

He gave up two home runs in one inning, totaling four earned runs. He also gave up four hits and walked one batter.

These were the first runs and hits he's given up this season.

Through 3 2-3 innings, Proctor is 0-0 with a 9.82 ERA. He has three walks and one strikeout.

I wonder if Proctor is just trying to sabotage Joe Torre's stay in Los Angeles. Time will tell.

(Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

Proctor in the game

With runners on first and second and two out, Scott Proctor induced a fly ball to get out of the inning to preserve the Dodgers' 5-0 lead in the seventh inning.

Much has been made about Proctor's reunion with Joe Torre, so he's getting an early start this season.