He said a lot and got himself ejected for the second time this season (the first coming May 6 vs. Seattle when he got the heave-ho for Proctor throwing behind a batter).
Proctor received his second ejection last night when he threw toward Kevin Youkilis's head in the ninth, grazing the Sox first/third baseman's helmet. Home plate umpire Brian O'Nora ran him immediately. Youkilis popped up off the ground and yelled, "What the [expletive] is that?" toward Proctor. Jorge Posada stepped in to restrain him. The benches and bullpens emptied.
There was some back-and-forth between Melky Cabrera and Wily Mo Peña, but nothing came of it.
Said Youkilis: "Don't need to fuel the fire around here. I have no comment. There was nothing going on. What stays on the field is what's said on the field and that's it."
Wow. This was like the old-fashioned Yankees-Red Sox series, which, in the old days, was usually a Yankee win of the game and the fight.
It appeared Proctor was retaliating over Robinson Cano being hit with a pitch in the top of the ninth by Javier Lopez, which caught Cano on the left elbow, but Proctor denied it. In fact, Proctor said before he threw his first pitch Posada went out to advise him: "Let's not do anything here. Let's just get out of the inning and end the game."
While throwing at batters isn't the greatest way to make a point, Torre's argument and Proctor's act at least showed the Yankees are alive and kicking and care about wanting to win and protect their teammates.
"We need to be more fiery," said Torre from his office after the game. "I'm not saying that's my new personality, but we are showing more fight. It doesn't mean throwing at people or any of that crap like that."
In the past, there's been the perception that Red Sox pitchers have been far more aggressive in protecting their hitters than the Yankees. Not last night.
Proctor, who hopes to avoid a suspension after trying to plead his case to O'Nora, even said as much after the game, but he remained steadfast that the ball slipped out of his hand on a 2-and-2 pitch. The Yankees, who kept the clubhouse closed for a while after the game, seemed to get their stories straight.
