Butler Agrees to a Dodger Deal : Signing Would Embellish a Left-Handed Complement

Quickly, a rundown on Brett Butler:

--He runs quickly.

--He bunts for singles and he is good at it. Sometimes he beats out more than 20 bunts a year.

--He steals bases but he is not necessarily good at it. Sometimes he gets caught stealing 20 times a year.

--He’s an outfielder good enough to wear a Gold Glove, and now that he’s in Hollywood, he probably will go platinum.

--He is a real, genuine center fielder, so Darryl Strawberry can go back to being a real, genuine right fielder. The Dodger left fielder will be Who, What or I Don’t Know.

--He’s a real, genuine person, so far as we can tell, and from a media standpoint it has always been a complete pleasure to be around him, as opposed to some people we could name.

--He can’t hit a baseball as far as Kirk Gibson could. But the Dodgers already have Strawberry, who can.

--He can’t throw a baseball any better than Kirk Gibson could. Runners take advantage of Butler, who is often at the bottom of his league’s outfielders in assists.

--He plays an extremely deep center field and has never been confused with Paul Blair. But Butler can charge a ball as well as anybody in the business.

--He has sting in his swing. One season, 47 of Butler’s hits went for extra bases.

--He is so fast, he once had 14 triples in back-to-back seasons.

--He is from Los Angeles, as is Strawberry, as is Hubie Brooks. So, if General Manager Fred Claire is thinking about hanging a “Home Sweet Home” sign on the Dodger Stadium outfield fence, he might as well.

--He bats left-handed, as does Strawberry, as does Kal Daniels, as does Mike Scioscia, as does Lenny Harris, as does Eddie Murray (a switch-hitter), as do Alfredo Griffin and Jose Offerman (both switch-hitters), as does newly acquired second baseman Greg Smith (another switch-hitter). So, if the left-handed Tom Lasorda is thinking about sending an all-lefty lineup to the plate, he might as well.

--He has heard all the “Rhett Butler” gags since he was about 5 years old, so let’s give it a rest.

--He is better-looking than most of those guys in the C&R; suit commercials.

--He is exactly the leadoff man the Dodgers have been needing since (a) Steve Sax had a momentary lapse of sanity and left for New York, or (b) the Dodgers had a momentary lapse of sanity and let Sax leave for New York.

--He passed up a four-year guarantee from Atlanta for a three-year guarantee from Los Angeles, so remember that next time you think every baseball player in America is a greedy pig.

--He left San Francisco to play for Los Angeles, so just imagine the wonderful, warm welcome Butler will receive when the Dodgers get back to Candlestick Park.

--He was the guy carrying the child off the field after the Bay Series earthquake; that’s the memory of Candlestick we remember most.

--He walks a lot for a leadoff man. Pitchers keep the ball outside because they doubt Butler can hit the ball too deep to left field.

--He doesn’t go into slumps because of the bunts.

--He will turn 34 next season, so don’t go expecting him to be the world’s fastest human.

--He didn’t come cheap, and neither did Strawberry, so if the price of Dodger tickets keeps going up each year, you won’t have to be a genius to figure out why.

--He gives the Dodgers what truly won them the pennant and World Series in 1988--defense.

--He might have clinched Claire the Executive of the Year award before the year even had a chance to change from 1990 to 1991.