Proctor gets torched

Yankee reliever Scott Proctor burned his glove, cap and spikes yesterday after the A's lit him up for three runs on three hits in a third of an inning.

"I burned everything, the whole bit," Proctor said as he left Yankee Stadium. "I've done it before when things have gone bad. When I needed a change."

Some sources say Proctor burned his uniform; Proctor told the New York Post that's not true -- not that he didn't want to. "I'd burn my uniform if I wouldn't get in trouble for it."

You know what? I was never a big Proctor fan before, but I like him now. At least he seems to give a crap.

The Post's Michael Morrissey sniped, "And to think, it seemed Kyle Farnsworth was extreme for throwing his glove on Friday night."

But there's a big difference. Farnsworth-less threw a temper tantrum in front of the cameras when Joe Torre called on Mariano Rivera with two outs in the 8th. Now, given Mo just might be the greatest closer in the history of baseball, who the hell is Farnsworth to bitch about coming out? It's not like Torre pulled him for Charlie Brown. And a guy who has had three 1-2-3 innings this year -- that's right, just three 1-2-3 innings all year long -- and a 4.88 ERA and 1.66 WHIP has no right to complain about anything.

It was the second time in a week the cameras caught Farnsworth pitching a fit after getting pulled from a game. Just another sign Torre has lost control of this team.

Proctor, on the other hand, did his little pyro performance after the game, after the cameras were off. Even his teammates had already gone home.

Probably the only reason anybody heard about it is because some sportswriters were still hanging around in the press box, smelled something burning, and saw Proctor was doing some weekend grilling on the field in front of the Yankee dugout. And unlike Farnsworth, who refused to talk to reporters about his crybaby routines, Proctor manned up, joked about it and moved on.

I feel you, Prock. You can come over for a barbecue anytime you want.