Mariano Rivera isn’t a man of many words, but when he speaks those words carry a lot of weight.

That’s why former New York Yankees relief pitcher Scott Proctor can still recall a conversation the two had in the visitor’s bullpen at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore more than a decade ago.

Actually, calling it a conversation may be generous.

Rivera, who on Tuesday became the first player ever unanimously elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame, did most of the talking. The basic message was simple: Change the way you're acting.

“I think it was 2006,” said Proctor, now a financial advisor with Level Four Wealth Management in Stuart. “It was during batting practice and he said, ‘Come here.’ It was a tiered bullpen, so we went up there and sat.

“It wasn’t long and there was nothing I could say. He wasn’t a guy that beat you over the head with stuff. Everything was to the point and exact and that was it. Everything he did was with the utmost integrity.”

On the field, everything seemed to be going Proctor’s way in 2006.

The Martin County High graduate quickly was becoming Joe Torre’s most trusted bullpen option to get the game to Rivera — evidenced by Proctor leading the major leagues with 83 appearances and posting a career-best 6-4 record with a 3.52 ERA and 2.4 WAR.

Off the field, Proctor was a 29-year-old professional athlete living in New York City and taking in much of what that life had to offer. Sometimes, he took things too far.

That’s what led to Rivera’s bullpen chat.

“I was very lucky to have a close relationship with him,” Proctor said. “He would talk about me as an individual and he talked to me about how choices I made away from the field could impact me on the field. It was not the path you want to go down. He told me to shape up because he wouldn’t tolerate it. It was an open, honest, caring thing. I hate to say I was stubborn when I was young, but when I look back at it now, I was.

“Through my whole progression, when I made life changes when I was with the Marlins, he was one of the guys I wanted to go back and thank. It was because of that talk at Camden Yards. He was instrumental in my playing career, life and even where I’m at now. I use that same process and same approach now when I talk to high school kids or Little League kids that I tell the story to. He is the one who taught me to relate to people that way.”

While Proctor still is involved in baseball at the youth and high school levels, he has distanced himself from the professional game.

He didn’t even realize Rivera had been selected to the Hall of Fame until he saw it online Wednesday morning.

But it obviously was a fitting honor. As Proctor was coming up through the Yankees minor league system, Rivera was the poster child for success despite early struggles.

“The first thing that comes up when I think about Mariano Rivera is the man and the impact he made personally,” Proctor said. “But he is the greatest closer in the history of the game and watching him carve guys up with his cutter was something. When you heard that song (Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”), the game was over. The running joke was it’s an eighth-inning game. The whole demeanor of every game changed once you got that last out in the eighth inning. It was even evident with the other team. It was the most incredible thing I’ve seen or experienced, how one player could change a game like that.”

Proctor had 39 holds during his career, including a career-best 26 in 2006. Rivera saved 34 games for the Yankees that year.

"He was the consummate professional," Proctor said. "Everything he did was with the utmost integrity and professionalism. He took his craft very serious and had a tremendous amount of respect for the game, his team and his opponents. I'm really, really excited and happy for him. It couldn’t happen to a better guy. Just the accomplishment of being the first guy to get the unanimous vote is very fitting for his career."