Scott Proctor - Controversies

Controversies

Proctor has run into some instances where he has appeared to assume the responsibility of retaliation for the Yankees. In two instances, Proctor allegedly threw at batters with the intention for retaliation.

One instance occurred in a game against the Seattle Mariners in which Scott Proctor threw behind Yuniesky Betancourt. Betancourt and Proctor exchanged heated words. Proctor may have felt that the Yankees were in position to retaliate after his teammate, Yankees first baseman Josh Phelps, was hit by a pitch. But Phelps was hit in retaliation for his part in, what appeared to be, an intentional hit on Seattle catcher Kenji Johjima. Therefore, the incident between Phelps and Johjima has already been settled with the "beaning" of Phelps but Proctor took offense to the fact the retaliation was exercised on Phelps. Proctor was suspended after that incident.

Another instance occurred on June 1, 2007 when Proctor hit Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis in the shoulder after two Yankee batters were hit. Youkilis was the fifth hit batsman in the game. A visibly enraged Youkilis had to be held back by Yankee catcher Jorge Posada. Proctor was soon ejected after both benches calmed, though Proctor remained upset over his ejection. After the game, he protested to the media that the pitch had gotten away from him and that he had no reason to hit Youkilis as he had a 2–2 count. Before the following game, during the YES Pre-Game Show, Joe Torre told reporters that after Proctor's ejection, Proctor stormed into Torre's office and insisted that he did not throw at Youkilis intentionally, an explanation Torre accepted. Torre, however, did not protest Proctor's resulting one-game suspension.

On June 30, after a poor performance in a loss to the Oakland Athletics (and after taking the loss in each of the Yankees' last two games), Proctor lit fire to his equipment on the field, just feet from the Yankees dugout.

In June 2009, Proctor revealed that he was a recovering alcoholic and had been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. He credits Mariano Rivera with urging him to straighten his life out.