ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, September 12, 1996 TAG: 9609130043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: Associated Press
Having made a triumphant return from cancer surgery, Brett Butler - one of baseball's best bunters - broke his left hand while bunting in what could have been the final at-bat of his career.
Without question, it was his last plate appearance of the regular season, although Butler said Wednesday he hadn't decided on retirement and hopes to play in the postseason.
Butler broke the fifth metacarpal in his left hand in the fourth inning of Los Angeles' 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night.
Butler appeared at a news conference Wednesday wearing a short cast on his left wrist. A Dodgers official said Butler will wear the cast for three to four weeks and will be examined in three weeks by Dr. Norm Zemel, who confirmed the fracture earlier Wednesday.
``He [Zemel] said in three weeks I get my cast off. Miracles have happened before,'' Butler said, remaining upbeat. ``I didn't think it was broken initially, it's the same kind of injury I had in Cleveland in 1986. It was just one of those freak things.
``I'm going to go home for a few days, meet the club in Colorado or San Diego [next week]. I'm a part of this club, and I'm going to continue to be a part of this club.''
Entering Wednesday night's game against Cincinnati, the Dodgers had 18 games left in the regular season, which ends Sept.29. If the cast remains for three weeks, that means it would be removed about Oct.2, early in the divisional playoffs.
Butler, 39, recently told friends and several teammates he would retire at the end of the season. However, he said Wednesday he wasn't going to think about that right now.
``It's not an absolute that I'm going to retire. I'll tell you that right now,'' Butler said. ``We'll re-evaluate that over the winter.''
Butler said he always has wanted to go out on his own terms and that obviously wouldn't be the case if his career ended with an injury.
Dodgers general manager Fred Claire said he believed retirement was something Butler shouldn't consider right now.
``That decision is up to Brett, and we've talked about that,'' Claire said. ``He needs to think about what he wants to do, and what I've said to Brett is there's no urgency to this decision.''
Butler rejoined the Dodgers on Friday night following more than four months on the sidelines because of cancer in his neck.
``The positive thing out of breaking my hand is I'm still alive,'' he said. ``The cancer, there was a question there.''
Butler's wife, Eveline, said she was disappointed at the latest setback.
``He worked long and hard to come back,'' she said. ``And this was upsetting to my kids. I think they think Dad has been through enough. I couldn't believe it.''
Eveline Butler said she was planning on going to the couple's Atlanta home Wednesday, but now will leave with her husband today.
``He didn't have a choice,'' she said. ``I told him he was going. We need to get out of town.''
Dodgers manager Bill Russell said when he went out of the dugout to look at Butler's hand Tuesday night it was ``turning blue.''
``He got hit pretty good,'' Russell said. ``You knew it was bad. I knew he was going to come out once I saw it.''
Russell thinks it's ``highly unlikely'' Butler will play again this year.
``I would say at this point it's asking a lot of him to put him right back in the lineup because it's probably going to be in the playoffs or possibly in the World Series when he gets in there,'' Russell said. ``It's going to be asking a lot of him to put him back in the lineup at that time. Again, I'm not saying it's not impossible. But I am saying it's highly unlikely.''
Butler squared around to bunt and Giovanni Carrara's inside pitch hit him on his throwing hand. It was ruled a foul ball by plate umpire Bill Hohn because Butler's hand was on the bat when it was struck.
Reds outfielder Eric Davis, who was a teammate of Butler with the Dodgers in 1992-93, cringed when he heard about the severity of the injury.
``He's been blessed that he's healthy now, and that's the key,'' Davis said. ``He was able to overcome some tremendous odds, so the fact that he's only played in five games is not a negative thing.
``In my eyes, he's won. Even if he came back and played one game, he still won. But on the downside, he's an inspiration to their ballclub and you hate to see a guy go down like that.''
Butler entered this season with 280 bunt hits in his career. His career-high is 41 in 1992. He became the first NL player to lead the league in singles for four consecutive seasons (1990-93).
He hit a run-scoring single in the second inning Tuesday night for his first RBI since returning to the lineup. It was in his next at-bat that he was injured.
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Brett Butlerby CNBacknowledges the crowd Sept. 6 after spending four months fighting
cancer. Butler broke his left hand Tuesday night in what may have
been his final at-bat in the major leagues. color. KEYWORDS: BASEBALL