Hey, remember when Joe Torre used Scott Proctor just about every day and then Proctor couldn't pitch good and everybody said it was Torre's fault? Well, Scott Proctor's taking the high road (via SFGatee.com's Henry Schulman):
Can we stop blaming Joe Torre for Scott Proctor?
The popular narrative of Proctor’s downfall as a pitcher held that his arm blew out because Yankees manager Joe Torre overused him in 2006 and 2007. He pitched in 83 games both years, including 31 for the Dodgers after a midseason trade in 2007.
Proctor tells a different story.
"I think some things that happened and some poor choices on how I lived my life led to it more than anything," he said.
Part of that was not eating right or sleeping enough, the basics of being a good athlete, but that was not the killer. He said he had a "serious drinking problem," a binge drinker who stopped when he ran out of booze or passed out.
Hey, I’m down with that. Except does binge drinking typically result in Tommy John Surgery? I’m not saying that you can’t improve your chances of staying healthy by eating well and sleeping plenty and not drinking until you’re comatose. But a lot of guys who do take pretty care of themselves still managed to somehow blow out their elbow ligaments.
No, binge drinking isn’t a good idea. It’s probably a really bad idea. But Organized Baseball seems to have collectively decided that throwing 100 innings of relief is a really bad idea, too. In 2006, his best season, Proctor threw 102 innings. Proctor remains the only relief pitcher since 2005 to throw more than 95 innings in a season. Proctor can think and say whatever he wants, but everybody seems to have decided that his workload in 2006 was dangerous.
The happy ending to this story is that Proctor's been sober since 2009, thrived with a Korean club last year (thanks to a new-found splitter), and is now fighting for a job in the Giants' bullpen.
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