Brett Butler

Brett Morgan Butler (born June 15, 1957) is an American former center fielder in Major League Baseball and coach. He played for five different teams from 1981 through 1997. A leadoff hitter for the majority of his career, Butler led the league in triples and runs scored twice each and was named a National League All-Star in 1991. He was diagnosed with cancer in May 1996, received treatment and returned to the playing field four months later. He retired in 1997 and began a baseball coaching career. He has coached or managed numerous professional teams. He was the manager of the Reno Aces minor league team from late 2008 through 2013. Playing career Butler spent his teenaged years in Libertyville, Illinois, where he was a starting outfielder on the Libertyville High School baseball team that finished in the top 16 teams in the State his senior year. Upon graduating, he announced plans to play baseball in college, and his high school coach, Ernie Ritta, scoffed. Butler, who had explored walking on at baseball powerhouse Arizona State, made the team at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The outfielder led the Savages to championships during all three years at Southeastern including an NAIA national runner-up finish in 1977. He was twice named to the NAIA All-America Baseball Team. Butler was the Savages' first .400 hitter with a .439 average in 1977. He set career records in home runs (31), runs (209), triples (15), hits (220), walks (162), and career batting average (.394). After attending Southeastern Oklahoma, Butler was drafted in the 23rd round of the 1979 amateur draft by the Atlanta Braves. The Braves were building a contending team with players like Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, and Glenn Hubbard after years of losing, but they lacked a leadoff hitter with speed. After playing in the minor leagues, he made his major league debut with the Braves on August 20, 1981. Butler helped lead the Braves to a 13–0 start and the National League West Division title in 1982, their first division title since 1969. He had another fine year with the Braves in 1983, but they finished second in the West to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In October 1983, Butler was sent to the Cleveland Indians (along with Brook Jacoby and Rick Behenna) to complete a deal in which the Braves had acquired Len Barker for cash, toward the end of the 1983 season. In 1984, he became the first batter Roger Clemens would face in the big leagues.