Reversal of Fortune Brings Butler Back : Dodgers: After letting him go, they reacquire their center fielder and leadoff batter from the Mets for two minor leaguers.

Brett Butler, annoyed that he had to spend five months in New York, still doesn’t quite understand what happened, but Friday afternoon all was forgiven.

He is a Dodger again.

The Dodgers, saying they never wanted to break up in the first place, resumed their love affair by reacquiring Butler from the New York Mets.

They traded Class-A outfielders Dwight Maness and Scott Hunter to bring back Butler for the pennant drive he wasn’t able to complete a year ago.

“I still can’t believe it,” Butler said. “I’m blown away. I said nothing in this game would surprise me anymore. Well, I’m surprised.

“I’m in a pennant race again, and I’m back with the Dodgers.

“Can you believe it?

“I mean, who would ever believe this?”

While Butler was shocked by the news, his teammates were celebrating as if they were being fitted for World Series rings. The Dodgers refrained from saying the National League West race is over, but in so many words they were saying, well, the National League West race is over.

“We should win this now, no?” right fielder Raul Mondesi said. “We’ve got everything. We’ve got speed. We’ve got offense. We’ve got defense.

“We’re the team to beat.”

Said first baseman Eric Karros: “This was huge, absolutely huge. Now we have no excuses. We were in a situation where we needed somebody, and now we got him.

“We can’t ask for any more than that.”

The Dodgers, the only team to express interest in Butler, were so euphoric with the news of his return that players actually walked up to Executive Vice President Fred Claire and shook his hand and slapped his back. It was as if Claire had given them all pay raises, and perhaps he did, considering that each player receives lucrative playoff bonuses.

“We have the team in place,” Claire said. “We have the talent in place. And we have the chemistry in place.

“The only thing we don’t have is excuses.”

The Dodgers, some will say, merely rectified the mistake they made during spring training when they parted company with Butler. They offered him a one-year, $3.5-million contract, but a directive from the players’ union told the players not to sign any contracts until a labor agreement was reached. When the strike ended, the Dodgers rescinded their offer, and Butler, 38, was left to sign for $2 million with the Mets.

“He never should have left in the first place. That was a mistake,” second baseman Delino DeShields said. “I didn’t want to say anything critical at the time, but that was the truth. This guy was coming off one of his best years, and we didn’t bring him back.

“I just felt he should have been here all year.

“I think a lot of us did.”

The Dodgers tried five center fielders and five leadoff hitters, but nothing worked. When rookie center fielder Todd Hollandsworth broke his right thumb Aug. 9, there no longer was any reason to kid anybody.

The Dodgers needed a center fielder.

They needed Butler.

Claire, who made an initial inquiry for Butler in July, telephoned Joe McIlvaine, vice president of the Mets, wanting to make a deal. They exchanged the names of prospects.

Claire simply decided he wasn’t going to leave New York without taking Butler with him. Claire was having lunch at a midtown delicatessen. He couldn’t wait any longer. He called the Mets. The deal was made.

“You talk about a happy guy,” Manager Tom Lasorda said of the trade. “When Fred asked me about a week ago whether I’d like to have him back, I didn’t hesitate. We needed him.

“I don’t know what happened before, but we sure needed him now.”

To make room on the roster for Butler, Roger Cedeno was sent to triple-A Albuquerque.

Butler, batting .311 before the trade, realizes he probably will be spending only six more weeks with the Dodgers. They have no intention of re-signing him, but considering the Dodgers are required to pay only $490,000 of his salary, who’s to say they aren’t in better shape now than if they signed him in the first place?

He was in the lineup Friday night, going two for four, one of the hits a triple that drove in two runs in a 3-2 loss to the Mets.

“If you try to deal with things realistically, things have a way of working out,” Claire said, “and I think they have. We’ve given young players at-bats they normally wouldn’t have. It’s August and we’re in a pennant race. And we have Brett.”

In hindsight, wouldn’t it have been much easier to sign Butler in the first place?

“No one wanted to keep Brett Butler more than I did, no one,” Claire said. “There are a lot of things not in my control: player strikes and budgets. Those are the facts of baseball in 1995. I didn’t invent them. I live with them.”

Said Butler, who initially accused the Dodgers of retracting their offer because of his pro-union sentiments: “Things happen for a reason you don’t understand. They’ve got their opinions, and I’ve got mine. But that’s over with now. Everything else is insignificant.

“The Dodgers wanted me, and believe me, it’s nice to be wanted. We’ve got a championship to win. Even if it’s only for 42 games and the postseason, that’s all right.

“There’s nothing I’d like better than to walk away from Los Angeles with a World Series ring and a trophy for my trophy case.”

Funny, but that’s what the Dodgers had in mind.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Setting the Table

The Dodgers, who have tried five center fielders and five leadoff batters this season, turned to an old reliable by reacquiring Brett Butler in a trade with the New York Mets.

BRETT BUTLER IN 1995

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Team AB R H RBI BB Avg. New York Mets 367 54 114 25 43 .311

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DODGER LEADOFF BATTERS IN 1995

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Player AB R H RBI BB Avg. Delino DeShields 235 34 55 15 29 .234 Chad Fonville 115 18 31 5 12 .270 Jose Offerman 43 1 10 2 2 .233 Roberto Kelly 9 0 4 1 0 .444 Todd Hollandsworth 20 4 4 4 3 .200 Totals 422 57 104 27 46 .246

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