BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : At 35, Butler Loves His Leading Role

The word, Brett Butler said, is ageless . He believes that of himself, and uses it as a motivation.

“The media brought up my age on the first day of spring training, and I hadn’t even thought about it,” the 35-year-old Dodger center fielder and reinstated leadoff man said the other day, adding that he still doesn’t think about it, that his goal is to play until he is 40 or older.

There is this motivation, too:

“We lost 99 games last year and people said that only Eric Karros had a good year, was the only bright light,” Butler said.

“What’s new? I’ve had 11 consistent seasons, and last year was one of my three best, but I’m always overlooked. I’ve never even had a poster. It’s just the way it is. I accept it, but it helps drive me.”

With a career average of .288, Butler batted .309 last year with 171 hits and 41 stolen bases. He was eighth in the National League in average, 10th in hits and seventh in steals.

Cynics suggest that his age can be reflected by the 21 times he was caught stealing last year, but that has long been a pattern of his aggressive style. Butler’s .676 stolen base percentage is the lowest in the last 40 years among players with at least 400 steals, but he has also averaged 40 steals for his 10 full seasons and 99 runs.

He also led the league with 70 infield hits last year and collected a career-high 41 bunt hits. Overlooked amid the debris of the Dodgers’ long season was that Butler led the league in singles for the third consecutive year, a feat achieved only three times in National League history and last accomplished by Lloyd Waner in 1927-29.

Butler made only two errors and ran his errorless streak to 186 games. He has a career total of only 36 errors but has never won a Gold Glove.

“I’m kind of confused as to what the award is all about,” he said.

None of this has left Butler bitter, only more motivated. He said he still considers it a privilege to put on the uniform and receive CEO pay for playing a child’s game. He said he regrets that more players don’t share that feeling but sees it as a loss of societal values in general.

As the Dodgers attempt to recover from a struggling start, the focus has been on the physical status of reliever Todd Worrell, the ability of Darryl Strawberry and Eric Davis to remain healthy and find their offensive groove, and the search for a left-handed relief pitcher--Chuck McElroy of the Chicago Cubs being who they most covet.

Somewhere in that mix, there’s Butler. His recent reassignment to the leadoff role, after he batted .362 as the league’s leading No. 2 hitter last year, is an indication the Dodgers feel his catalytic potential is still greater than that of Jose Offerman.

While the heart of the lineup struggles, the Dodgers need that spark at the top.

“If it’s my pick, there’s no other place I’d rather be (than leading off),” Butler said. “If it’s the manager’s pick, I’ll bat wherever he wants me because the team comes first. As a leadoff hitter or anything else, I’ve always tried to lead by example.”

In Tuesday’s home opener, in his first at-bat after being returned to the leadoff role, Butler underlined his return, bunting safely down the third base line, as if to sneer at Todd Zeile of the St. Louis Cardinals, who knew it was coming.

Butler knows what the book is on him and laughs at it. He believes he can bunt at any time and any place, driven by a degree of cockiness and conviction that was born as a response to those who long ago said he was too small to make it.

Now, there are two little generals in the Dodger clubhouse, the 5-foot-10 Butler and the 5-9 Jody Reed. For Butler, it’s the last year of a three-year, $10-million contract. The Dodgers have a $3-million option on 1994 but can buy it out for $500,000.

“My goal when I first reached the majors was to play one year, then 10 years, then until I was 35,” Butler said.

“I’ve reset it now to play until I’m 40, but if I feel then like I do now, I may reset it again. I’ll play for as long as my legs hold up, and my legs feel great. I’d like to end my career here, but that’s out of my hands.

“I played my first six years with a one-year contract, and that’s basically what I’m doing again. I don’t feel I have anything to prove. The only thing that was down last year was my runs total, but I have no control over that. I feel like I did my job.”

If he can do it again, if Davis and Strawberry and Worrell bounce back, if they find a left-hander for the bullpen . . . “The main thing is that the defense has been shored up,” Butler said. “The rest will fall into place if we don’t panic. This team has the ability to win, to be in position to win. Last year we didn’t have that ability, and anyone who says we did is a liar.”

Last year, many said, the only bright light was Karros. Another lie.

EASTERN LIGHT

The strong starts of the Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies have underscored the belief that it’s a wide-open race in the NL East.

It’s also obvious that the Pittsburgh Pirates won’t give up easily, although a 162-game season may yet take a toll on the three rookies in the regular lineup, Al Martin, Carlos Garcia and Kevin Young, and the two others playing key roles on the pitching staff, starter Steve Cooke and reliever Paul Wagner.

“Jim Leyland should go right to the Hall of Fame if he wins again with this club,” Cardinal Manager Joe Torre said of his Pittsburgh counterpart before leaving Los Angeles on Thursday. “It’s not that the Pirates don’t have ability, but when you lose Barry Bonds and Doug Drabek and Jose Lind, you’ve lost a lot of experience.”

The Cardinals, meanwhile, may be coming of age together. After 84-78 and 83-79 finishes the last two years, the only regular over 30 is Ozzie Smith. Ray Lankford, Bernard Gilkey, Brian Jordan, Mark Whiten, Zeile, Gregg Jefferies and Geronimo Pena are all between 25 and 27.

“With Jefferies in the middle (of the lineup),” Torre said of the contact hitter who was acquired from the Kansas City Royals for Felix Jose, “we don’t expect to strike out as much or leave as many runners on base.”

The Cardinals led the league in hitting last year but were sixth in runs. Only two teams left more runners on base. Only three struck out more.

Torre said he expects a combination of Jefferies and overall maturity to help correct that, but pitching will be the key.

“Ability-wise we’re fine, but it depends how our young pitchers react,” he said, referring to starters Rheal Cormier, Donovan Osborne and the Cuban defector Rene Arocha, who Torre said “has the ability to help take us to the next level.”

Can the Cardinals reach it? “I like to believe (the race) will be wide open because it means we’ll be in the mix,” Torre said. “I really think we’ll be in it on any basis.”

OVER AND OUT

Questions of durability and eroding skills prompted the Pirates to break up their previously productive catching platoon of Don Slaught and Mike LaValliere by releasing the latter.

This is one Pittsburgh move that had nothing to do with money. The Pirates will have to eat the $4.05 million guaranteed LaValliere over the final two years of his contract.

Pirate General Manager Ted Simmons said he felt the defensive skills of catcher Tom Prince, 28, had surpassed those of the often overweight and outspoken LaValliere, and that he couldn’t risk sending Prince, who has spent parts of each of the last six seasons with the Pirates, to the minors because he was out of options and outrights.

“We’d lose Prince if we sent him down,” Simmons said. “If Slaught then gets hurt, I’m not sure LaValliere could catch a month or two straight.”

Slaught, a UCLA graduate who has never appeared in more than 87 games during three seasons with the Pirates and never more than 124 in previous stints with the Royals, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees, may be ready for a full-time role.

In three years of the platoon, he actually had a better batting average against right-handers than the left-handed hitting LaValliere: .336 to .269.

PHILLY FANATICS

With John Kruk, Mitch Williams and Lenny Dykstra, the Phillies are attracting as much attention for their personalities as performance.

“I keep calling us gypsies, tramps and thieves,” Williams said. “That pretty much explains us. We’re not going to go out there and get invited to a lot of homes for dinner, but if there’s a street fight, you’re sure going to call on us. We have a lot of hard-nosed players here.”

Added General Manager Lee Thomas, who was known as Mad Dog during his playing days: “We’re not a team full of angels, but those things are OK if you win.”

COMBUSTION

Steve Howe and Steve Farr have formed an arson squad in the Yankee bullpen. Howe, through Thursday, had given up nine hits and nine earned runs in the one inning of three assignments for an ERA of 81.00. Farr had given up eight hits, five earned runs and three home runs in the 2 2/3 innings of four games for an ERA of 16.88.

As usual, however, the Yankees have supported Howe to the hilt, filing a complaint with the American League office over umpire Al Clark’s response to Howe’s criticism of his umpiring in a game at Cleveland during the season’s opening series.

Said Clark, obviously referring to the seven times Howe has been suspended for drug abuse: “I wonder if he’s ever made a mistake or used questionable judgment.”

COMBUSTION II

Former New York Met Daryl Boston, now with the Colorado Rockies, suggested to the Denver Post that Bobby Bonilla, grappling with the pressure of his $29-million contract, has allowed the New York media to get to him, clouding his thinking and reactions, as illustrated by his clubhouse exchange with reporter Bob Klapisch the other day.

“Darryl Strawberry was the best I ever saw at dealing with the New York media,” Boston said. “He liked to mess with them and make stuff up. He’d come into the clubhouse and say, ‘Watch what I do today.’ Then he’d tell them that he wanted to be traded to the Yankees.

“I felt for Bobby. He wanted so much to be liked, to show everyone that he deserved the contract. But it was hard to justify to a guy making $20,000 or $30,000 or $40,000 a year busting his butt on a nine-to-five job. With $6 million a year they expect 30 homers, 30 stolen bases and 100 RBIs.”

Strawberry had talked about Bonilla and the pressure of New York during spring training.

“Put your hand in the fire and that’s what you have to deal with,” he said. “New York’s a hard town, and when you’re making big money, they want you to put the club on your back and carry it.

“You have to accept the boos and everything else. You can’t run and hide. I had my share of run-ins, but it didn’t stop me from doing what I had to do.”

NAMES AND NUMBERS * FOREFRONT: Bob Wickman, 23, has become a leader of the New York Yankee pitching staff. Wickman, acquired from the Chicago White Sox in the Steve Sax deal, was 6-1 last year and is 2-0 this year. The 8-1 start is the best for a Yankee starter since Whitey Ford went 9-0 in 1950. Is he impressed? “No,” Wickman said. “It could all turn around in a hurry.” * BRONX ZOO: It has taken former Cincinnati Red outfielder Paul O’Neill only a week to see the best and worst of Yankee Stadium, and he loves it all. “It’s cool,” he said. “It’s a beautiful stadium, and the crowds are amazing. The fans, the fights, the beer throwing, the noise level. There’s so much excitement it makes me wonder what it would be like here if the team becomes a winner. Yankee Stadium puts me in awe.” * PLENTY MO: A resurgent Mo Vaughn has sparked the resurgence of the Boston Red Sox offense, hitting .429 through the first two weeks after batting a disappointing .234 in 355 at-bats last season. “The change for me is consistency and repetition of work,” he said. “The game’s not that easy, but it’s that simple.” * NO RELIEF: The Milwaukee Brewers’ bullpen had the lowest earned-run average in the majors last season, 2.78, but after being hit hard twice by the Angels, it was up to 11.78. Milwaukee relievers had given up 29 hits and 24 earned runs in 18 2/3 innings, twice blowing leads for Jaime Navarro, a 17-game winner last year. The Brewers still have their closer in Doug Henry but may miss their main set-up man, Darren Holmes, who went to the Colorado Rockies in the expansion draft. Holmes had six saves, four victories and a 2.55 ERA in 41 appearances with the Brewers in ’92. * TESTIMONIAL: After losing 16 of his first 21 career decisions to the Baltimore Orioles, Nolan Ryan had been 5-0 the last two years before losing, 6-5, Wednesday night while pitching with the torn knee cartilage that was repaired in surgery Thursday. Said Cal Ripken Jr.: “You try not to approach him any differently than any other pitcher, but you have to try to fight the psyche. You have to try to forget what he’s done, that you’re a fan, that you respect and like him. You try to make a normal at-bat out of it and keep it in perspective, but it’s difficult to do.” * IMPRESSIVE: David Nied, 24, the Rockies’ No. 1 selection from Atlanta in the expansion draft, has defeated Dennis Martinez and Dwight Gooden in winning two of three starts. He threw 81 strikes and 30 balls in beating Gooden and the New York Mets on Thursday, after which he was asked about his two victories and said: “Sure it feels good. A year ago at this time I was in triple A. I mean, those are two guys (Martinez and Gooden) I grew up watching on ‘This Week in Baseball.’ ”