Scott Proctor Cleaning up Life and Elbow

A revealing article about former Yankee Scott Proctor, by Mark Feinsand, is in today's Daily News.

It seems Proctor's elbow wasn't the only thing giving him trouble. The Yankees one time reliever has confessed to living as hard as he was playing.

So he decided to quit drinking entirely, started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and vowed to live his life differently.

"I was miserable," Proctor said. "I'd lived my life miserable for so long, because I was living two different lifestyles. I just got to a point where enough was enough."

Proctor doesn't view himself as an alcoholic in the traditional sense of the word.

"Did I wake up starving for a drink every day? No. Did I know how to say no? No," Proctor said. "Was I an alcoholic? Yes, but it wasn't due to the fact that I had to have alcohol. It was due to the fact that it was affecting my life in negative ways. AA, to me, it's not just about alcohol; it's about everything. Every day, you have decision-making to do, and you can do it the right way or the wrong way. I was choosing the wrong way a lot."

As a result of those choices, Proctor believes his performance on the field suffered, though he insists he was never intoxicated during a game.

"When your body's that dry from all the booze, it's got to have an effect," Proctor said. "Do I know exactly what it did? No. I can't sit here and say, ‘I remember that home run that guy hit, it was because I was blasted.' You can't be as consistent when you're doing that kind of thing."

Proctor gave his all to the Yankees and we hope he can make a full recovery from both problems.