Marlins pitcher Scott Proctor (left), plays with his 3-year-old daughter, Mary Elizabeth, and wife, Carrie. Photo by Sarah Grile

JENSEN BEACH — There’s no disputing Scott Proctor’s passion for baseball. After a tough loss, the new Marlins reliever once burned his glove on the dugout steps at Yankee Stadium — “a sacrifice to the baseball gods,” he explained.

Proctor persuaded his wife to name their first child,  5-year-old Camden, after Baltimore’s baseball yard.

Their youngest, 18-month-old Cooper, got his name from the New York town that’s home to the Hall of Fame.

“It helped me understand what really matters,’’ he said.

For Proctor, a 1995 graduate of Martin County High School, spring training 2006 with the New York Yankees had been shaping up as one of the best times of his career. “Emmie” — the nickname based on Mary Elizabeth’s initials — was born March 8. Three weeks later Proctor got more good news.

Mary Elizabeth in the hospital.

“I’d just made my first-ever big-league roster out of spring training,” he recalled. “I was on Cloud Nine.’’

He called his wife, Carrie, to tell her. As soon as he got the words out, she told him that Emmie was being taken by Traumahawk helicopter to a hospital.

“I went from Cloud Nine to panic mode,’’ he said.

Three days after Emmie was born, doctors detected a heart murmur. Later tests showed she had a life-threatening heart defect, an interrupted aortic arch.

Proctor left Yankees camp in Tampa and drove to Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital, where his daughter underwent open-heart surgery to fix the underdeveloped aorta.

Proctor stayed with his wife and child until the infant’s breathing and feeding tubes were removed. He joined the Yankees in Oakland in time for their second game of the season, arriving at the ballpark in the third inning. He entering the game in relief in the ninth.

“I gave up a run and got the loss,’’ he said. “After the game the media was asking me, ‘How do you feel?’ I said, ‘No offense, but I’m not really worried about the game. I’ve got a healthy daughter at home.’ ’’
As a result of his family’s experience, Proctor and his agent, Palm City lawyer Mark Rodgers, helped the University of Miami launch “M.E.’s Team,’’ a charity that benefits Treasure Coast children with mental or physical challenges.

On Saturday, Proctor will be excused from the Marlins’ FanFest at Dolphin Stadium so he can co-chair his second annual Celebrity Sporting Clays shooting tournament in Okeechobee to raise money for “M.E.’s Team.’’ Proctor said big-leaguers Rick Ankiel and Ron Villone plan to shoot in the contest at Quail Creek Plantation.

After Saturday, Proctor will return his focus to the Marlins, who signed him to a one-year, $750,000 contract.
Proctor, a right-hander in his sixth big-league season, was 2-0 with a 6.05 ERA last season for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Larry Beinfest, the Marlins’ baseball operations president, has tried to acquire for Proctor in the past. Beinfest said he likes his “bulldog mentality.”

“He takes the ball every day,” Beinfest said. “Great competitor.’’
Proctor, who broke in with the Yankees in 2004, led the league with 83 appearances in ’06 while going 6-4 with a 3.52 ERA.

“My role is, whenever they call down to the bullpen and ask for me I’m ready to go. I’m not looking to be used in any certain way. I want to be in every game I can possibly be in,’’ said Proctor, who was drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round in 1995 as a starter before being traded to the Yankees and converted to a reliever.

“You always grow up wanting to be a position player in the big leagues. Being in the role of an everyday reliever is as close as you can get.’’

Proctor, who was traded to the Dodgers during the 2007 season, made a total of 83 appearances that season, and was 5-5 with a 3.65 ERA.

The Marlins are hoping Proctor can regain that form. Last year he made only 41 appearances. He didn’t make the post-season roster  and underwent surgery in October for a partially torn flexor tendon.

He started throwing off the mound two weeks ago and expects to be ready when pitchers and catchers hold their first workouts Feb. 14 in Jupiter. He is looking forward to spending spring training just a 20-minute drive from his home and family.“I told my wife I always wanted to play for the Marlins,’’ he said. “I’m going spoil her this year with being so close to home.”

Proctor’s house is a virtual photo gallery honoring his family. But one picture clashes with the rest: It shows Emmie a day after surgery, with her face contorted and hospital tubes connected to her swollen, 3-week-old body.

“Some people say, ‘I can’t believe you leave that (picture) out,’’’ Proctor says. ‘’Well, it’s a reminder of how special she is and how special each and every one of our kids is.’’
Noteworthy: For more information about Proctor’s charity event, call (772) 349-1067.

By JOE CAPOZZI, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Tags: baseball, camp, charity, children, contest, contract, Dodgers, driving, grandmother, hospital, housing, infant, kids, man, money, name, Okeechobee, photos, pitcher, raise, raises, scott proctor, shooting, wife, yard

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