Butler’s Main Concern Now Is the Pain

Dodger center fielder Brett Butler, who has always converted thoughts into words with ease, has difficulty expressing himself these days.

There are thoughts and feelings scratching at one another to get out, but his throat won’t cooperate. His tonsillectomy of a week ago still makes it painful to speak.

“Right now, he’s not trying to get over that cancer, he just wants to get rid of that pain in his throat,” his wife, Eveline, said Thursday. “It’s going to be another three days or so for that pain to go away.”

Eveline said that she and Butler are thankful for the concern and prayers and that he wants his teammates to know that he will be watching them, offering his support. He asks only that they play their best and, who knows, maybe he can join them later.

“Even though the doctor said more than likely Brett cannot play this season, Brett has a way of overcoming the odds,” Eveline said. “Remember, they told him he was too little to play baseball. They told him he wasn’t good enough to play baseball in high school. He ended up spending 16 years in the major leagues.

“When they told us he had cancer, our first thought was, ‘No! He’ll never play again.’ But now we’re leaving all of our options open. He may want to come back. He may even want to play for another year or two.”

Butler has made it clear that he’s still a Dodger and will not tolerate his teammates using his illness as an excuse for failure. He believes in the team’s ability, and is planning to participate in a clubhouse celebration in October.

“If we just think about how Brett played the game, what he would do if he were here and how he would handle it, we’ll be fine,” said Fred Claire, executive vice president.

“You look at Brett now, and he is preparing for this as if it’s a game. Brett always had full intensity with every pitch. He treated every pitch, every at-bat, like the seventh game of the World Series.

” . . . He’s preparing mentally for the next step of this fight. He’s planning to beat this thing. . . .

“We have to do the same. We have to use our emotion and keep our focus.”

The Dodgers are struggling, having lost four of their last five games to fall 5 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres, their largest deficit since the end of the 1993 season.

Yet while general managers are calling Claire with trade proposals, offering veteran outfielders for pitchers, Claire tells them there is no interest.

“If somebody in this world thinks that I’m going to go out and get an outfielder, they’re wrong,” Claire said. “I have not made one call, nor do I have interest to make a call.

“We have no single area with greater young talent than our outfield. Now, it’s about to be put to a test. Their time has come.”

Claire doesn’t expect rookie Roger Cedeno, Butler’s replacement, or anyone else to play as well as Butler but said that if the Dodger veterans play to their capabilities, there should be no reason to panic.