THE WORLD SERIES : OAKLAND ATHLETICS vs. SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS : Butler Family Stays Together : Player Reaction: The Giants’ center fielder feels the earth shake and races to find his family in the stands. Reunited, they hug and say thanks.

Eveline Butler, eyes red, stood along Candlestick Park’s first-base line and stamped her foot.

“I don’t care if we win or lose this Series,” she said, tears beginning to flow again. “I just want to go home to Atlanta. I just want to get out of here and find safe ground.”

A few feet away, husband Brett Butler, the San Francisco Giants’ center fielder, stood, his hands still shaking.

“Everybody says God is coming back like a thief in the night,” he said. “I thought this was it.”

Butler’s story was similar to those of most players caught in Tuesday’s earthquake before what was to have been Game 3 of the World Series between the Giants and Oakland Athletics.

He was on the field preparing for the game, and he was so shaken that his knees nearly buckled. He was frightened as he ran across the field toward the stands, searching for his family. When he found them, they hugged one another until their arms ached.

“This shows you how incredibly insignificant baseball is,” Butler said.

At 5:05 p.m., Butler was in the outfield, running sprints while waiting for the introductions. Wife Eveline was in the lower stadium, in the wives’ lounge, preparing to board an elevator with her mother-in-law, Betty.

Then it hit. Butler and his wife each feared first for the other.

“I felt like I had a few drinks too many,” Butler said. “Then, all of a sudden, I couldn’t walk. Then, all of a sudden, it stopped.”

Then, for Butler, came the scary part. He looked up in the stands and couldn’t find Eveline.

“So I ran for the tunnel,” he said, referring to a walkway that leads to the elevator. “I was hoping she was in there. I had to find her.”

At the same time, Eveline was running the other way in the tunnel. If possible, she was more frightened than Butler, for she had seen worse than he had.

“I saw cars in the parking lot hitting each other,” she said. “I saw the ground rolling. I screamed for my mother-in-law to run. Then it stopped and I had to find Brett.”

They nearly collided in the tunnel. Together they went back onto the field in search of Butler’s mother, brother-in-law and other family members. They found them and ushered them to the field, where other players and wives stood together, sobbing in the eerie calm.

“I wanted to get everyone together down here, where it was safe,” Butler said.