Butler’s Spirit Isn’t Broken

Dodger outfielder Brett Butler, who broke his hand while bunting against the Cincinnati Reds, said Wednesday he hadn’t decided on retirement and hopes to play in the postseason.

Butler broke the fifth metacarpal in his left hand Tuesday night in the fourth inning of a 5-4 victory over the Reds.

Butler appeared at a news conference Wednesday wearing a short cast on his left wrist. A Dodger official said Butler will wear the cast for two to three weeks and will be examined in about three weeks by Dr. Norm Zemel, who confirmed the fracture earlier Wednesday.

“He [Zemel] said in three weeks I get my cast off. Miracles have happened before,” an upbeat Butler said. “I didn’t think it was broken initially, it’s the same kind of injury I had in Cleveland in 1986. It was just one of those freak things.

“I’m going to go home for a few days, meet the club in Colorado or San Diego [next week]. I’m a part of this club, and I’m going to continue to be a part of this club.”

Entering Wednesday night’s game against the Reds, the Dodgers had 18 games left in the regular season, which ends Sept. 29. If the cast remains for three weeks, that means it would be removed about Oct. 2, early in the divisional playoffs.

Butler, 39, recently told friends and several teammates he would retire at the end of the season. However, he said Wednesday he wasn’t going to think about that right now.

“It’s not an absolute that I’m going to retire. I’ll tell you that right now,” Butler said. “We’ll reevaluate that over the winter.”

Butler rejoined the Dodgers last Friday night following more than four months on the sidelines because of a cancerous tonsil.

“The positive thing out of breaking my hand is I’m still alive,” he said. “The cancer, there was a question there.”

Butler’s wife, Eveline, said she felt bad.

“He worked long and hard to come back,” she said. “And this was upsetting to my kids. I think they think Dad has been through enough. I couldn’t believe it.”

Dodger Manager Bill Russell said when he went out to look at Butler’s hand Tuesday night it was “turning blue.”

“He got hit pretty good,” Russell said. “You knew it was bad. I knew he was going to come out once I saw it.”

Russell thinks it’s “highly unlikely” that Butler will play again this year.

“I would say at this point it’s asking a lot of him to put him right back in the lineup because it’s probably going to be in the playoffs or possibly in the World Series when he gets in there,” Russell said. “I’m not saying it’s not impossible. But I am saying it’s highly unlikely.”

Butler squared around to bunt and Giovanni Carrara’s inside pitch hit him on his throwing hand. It was ruled a foul ball by plate umpire Bill Hohn because Butler’s hand was on the bat when it was struck.

Cincinnati outfielder Eric Davis, who was a teammate of Butler’s with the Dodgers in 1992-93, cringed when he heard about the severity of the injury.

“He’s been blessed that he’s healthy now, and that’s the key,” Davis said. “He was able to overcome some tremendous odds, so the fact that he’s only played in five games is not a negative thing.

“In my eyes, he’s won. Even if he came back and played one game, he still won. But on the downside, he’s an inspiration to their ballclub and you hate to see a guy go down like that.”

Butler entered this season with 280 career bunt hits. His career-high is 41 in 1992.