Jai Alai Tournament Draws Players From Florida, Mexico

Charles Butler is an addict--he’s hooked on jai alai.

“You get the same rush you do dunking a basketball,” said Butler, who in high school placed second in a Florida-Georgia slam dunk contest. “If you’d ever play jai alai, you’d get addicted. The ball travels upward of 150 miles per hour, and it’s like hitting a home run every time out. If you can do that, you wouldn’t be able to stop.”

Further evidence of the obsession came from his wife, Jennifer.

“Last week we were having dinner at the fronton and he didn’t eat anything,” she said. “He just kept watching. He’s so into it, sometimes he won’t even talk to me.”

This week Butler becomes a pusher as he helps sell the Tournament of the Americas, the first major event at the Tijuana Jai Alai Palace since it reopened last spring. It begins tonight at 8 and runs through Saturday.

Some of the top players from Tampa, where Butler plays, Mexico City and Tijuana will compete for $7,000 in prize money.

During a players’ strike in 1988, Butler--whose brother, Danny, was already on the Florida circuit--was recruited into the game. He was getting ready to attend Southern Illinois on a basketball scholarship and figured he could use some extra spending money.

“The way my brother was spending money,” he said, “I figured jai alai players were getting paid like baseball players.”

They weren’t, which was a main cause of the strike, but still rookies start at $30,000 and star players can make more than $100,000.

“I figured there was no limit for me in jai alai,” Butler said of the decision to give up the scholarship. “And in basketball my height and weight would have held me back.”

A lanky 6-feet-2 and 19 years old at the time, Butler had not picked up a cesta since he was 9 and struggled at first.

“I was scared to catch the ball,” he said. “When it would come to me, I would freeze.”

Stage fright didn’t last long. In 1989 Butler was named Rookie of the Year at the Tampa fronton, and now he’s being asked to travel to international tournaments.

“I’ve only been playing for 4 1/2 years,” said Butler, 23. “There are people who have been playing for more than 20 years who still have not been picked to play in a tournament.”