Center Stage : Rookie Cedeno Tearfully Assumes Butler’s Position

Roger Cedeno’s eyes started to moisten as he talked Wednesday, his mind racing back to spring training.

There were the mornings when Brett Butler would take him to the batting cage for bunting practice. There were the afternoons when Butler would take him to the outfield and show him how to play defense. There were the nights when Butler would talk to him about how to be a major league player.

“That’s why I cry so much when I found out about his cancer,” Cedeno said softly, wiping his eyes. “Last night, I couldn’t even go to bed because I feel so bad. You have no idea how bad I feel. I hurt inside.

“I don’t think I fell asleep until 4 in the morning. Maybe it was later. I don’t know. It’s hard to fall asleep when there are so many feelings.

“That guy, man, he was incredible. He was there for me. Now, I want to make him proud.”

Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda made it official Wednesday when he anointed Cedeno as the Dodgers’ everyday center fielder in Butler’s absence.

“He’s the guy everybody talked about being the center fielder of the future,” first baseman Eric Karros said. “Well, the future has already started.”

The Dodgers were hoping to groom Cedeno for the job in 1997. There was a lot of debate in spring training about where he should be playing this season. The original plan was to return him to triple-A Albuquerque so he could play every day. Lasorda insisted that he stay with the major league team. If nothing else, he could learn from Butler.

Everything changed Tuesday when Butler was diagnosed with cancer of the tonsils. Doctors say he will sit out the rest of the season, and considering that Butler talked about this being his final season before the diagnosis, his career could be over.

It left the Dodgers with an array of choices. They could trade for a veteran center fielder. They could play Chad Fonville in center. They could play rookie Todd Hollandsworth in center.

Instead, they will go with Cedeno, 21, a switch-hitter born and raised in Venezuela.

“If they give me the chance, I know I can do it,” Cedeno said. “If they give me the opportunity to play every day, believe me, I won’t be going back to the bench. I’ll be here to stay.”

Cedeno, who batted second during the Dodgers’ 5-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, went one for four with an infield hit. It hardly was the grand entrance he wanted, but he was the only batter in the top of the slumping lineup to even produce a hit.

“Cedeno probably is going to be my center fielder,” Lasorda said. “I don’t see anybody else doing it right now.

“He’s an up-and-coming young player that I have a great deal of admiration for. He has the talent to be an outstanding young player.”

Cedeno knows that if he struggles, the Dodgers won’t hesitate to platoon him with Hollandsworth or even return him to the bench. But it’s still his job to lose.

“Brett kept telling me one day that I would take his job,” Cedeno said, “and he prepared me for this day. I mean, what he did for me was incredible. We play the same position, and he kept showing me how to get better. He wanted me to be the one to take over for him one day.

“I remember him telling me, ‘Roger, I want to teach you how to take my job. I don’t want to give it you. I want to teach you how to take it.’ He gave me everything I needed.”

Cedeno, his hands shaking with emotion, wiped his eyes. He remembered May 1. It was the last time he spoke with Butler. He wonders if it will be the last time he’ll see him.

“He was by himself in the shower,” Cedeno said, “and he called me over. He said, ‘Roger, I’m going to have surgery [tonsillectomy]. I’m going to be out for three weeks.’

“He then says, ‘Now, go do it. I know you can do the job. You have the spirit. You can be the guy. I want you to play so good that I have trouble winning my job back.’

“Can you believe a guy can be so good?”

Butler became a strong admirer of Cedeno’s this spring. He pulled a reporter aside one day and kept praising Cedeno, saying he might be a better player than even the Dodgers envisioned.

“I look at the guy,” Butler said then, “and he’s faster than me. He’s stronger than me. He can be a better outfielder than me. He can hit better than me.’

“You watch this guy and see if I’m right.”

The Dodgers reluctantly soon will find out. They began platooning Cedeno with Hollandsworth when Billy Ashley went on the disabled list April 21. Cedeno was batting strictly against left-handed pitchers. Now, they will find out whether he can hit right-handers too.

“I know I can do it,” said Cedeno, who’s batting .286. “I actually hit better left-handed, it’s just that I haven’t got much of a chance. I have the confidence now. I just need them to believe in me.”

The difficulty, of course, is that Cedeno will be compared all season to Butler. It could be difficult to shoulder the burden. Butler not only is considered one of the finest leadoff hitters in baseball the last 10 years, but a superb outfielder.

“You just can’t replace him,” Karros said, “so it’s unfair to think we can. But we have to move on. That’s what Brett would want. And I think he’d want Roger to be the guy to do it.”

Cedeno, who eventually could become the full-time leadoff hitter, realizes the expectations. He knows what’s at stake. He may be barely old enough to buy a drink, but he believes his time has come.

“I waited my whole life for this, and Brett helped me get ready,” Cedeno said. “I will not let him down. I won’t let anybody down.

“Brett was there for me. Now I want to be there for him.”

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Cedeno’s Career

A look at how Roger Cedeno has fared the past four seasons:

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Year, Team AVG AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB 1993, San Antonio .288 465 70 134 13 8 4 30 45 90 28 1993, Albuquerque .222 18 1 4 1 1 0 4 3 3 0 1994, Albuquerque .321 383 84 123 18 5 4 49 51 57 30 1995, Albuquerque .305 367 67 112 19 9 2 44 53 56 23 1995, Dodgers .238 42 4 10 3 2 0 0 3 10 1 1996, Dodgers .286 28 4 8 2 3 1 0 6 9 0

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Roger Cedeno’s major league numbers compared to Brett Butler’s numbers at a similar point in his career:

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Player AVG AB R H RBI 2B 3B HR BB SO SB Cedeno .257 70 8 18 5 5 1 0 9 19 1 Butler .254 126 17 32 4 2 3 0 19 17 9

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