Spirit Is Willing . . . Is Butler’s Body?

Center fielder Brett Butler, who seven months ago was in a hospital fighting tonsil cancer and praying to stay alive, now is hoping for one last miracle.

Butler, with the goal of playing in 1997, signed a one-year, incentive-laden contract Wednesday with the Dodgers that will guarantee him $500,000 and pay him $1 million if he’s on the opening-day roster and $2 million if he remains on the active roster the entire season.

Yet there is an issue that looms and prevents this deal from becoming official: Butler has yet to determine whether he can still play baseball.

“They’re all trying to talk me into it,” Butler said. “The mental part of me wants to play. Physically, I’m not sure if I can.

“I’m not going to do this if I can’t do it wholeheartedly. I’d retire before I become a part-time player. I’m just going to work out and my body will determine whether I can play.

“I’ll know sometime before spring training, but if you ask me now, I’m probably leaning toward the other way [retirement].”

Butler, who weighs 152 pounds--eight pounds less than his playing weight--said he has not yet been motivated to begin full-scale workouts. He’s scheduled to visit with physical therapist Mackie Shilstone in three weeks.

“I just don’t have the desire right now,” Butler said. “I’ve been too tired. But if I can put on the other eight pounds, and get all of my energy back and become stronger than ever, it would be great to be back.”

Because the Dodgers had to offer arbitration rights to Butler by Saturday to prevent losing him until May 1, Butler said he agreed to the contract simply to keep his options open.

“It was just a formality,” Butler said. “If I can come back, at least now I have the choice.”

While Butler does not anticipate a final decision until late January, the Dodgers and those close to him fully expect him to return in 1997. The Dodgers, in fact, already have made room for Butler on the 40-man roster by designating pitcher Eric Weaver for assignment.

“The fact is that Brett is excited about it, feels better, and wants to play,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president. “I wanted Brett to make the decision on his own. I didn’t want him for any other reason than he wanted to play. If he was trying to meet the needs of the team, instead of answering his own question, it would not have been the fair way to approach it.”

Lowery Robinson, one of Butler’s best friends in Atlanta, recently spoke with Butler and also believes Butler will return.

“I had no doubt when the cancer hit that if he wanted to pay the price, he would make it happen,” Robinson said.

Butler missed four months of last season undergoing two surgeries and six weeks of radiation treatments for cancer. He returned Sept. 6 to the Dodgers and openly talked about retirement at season’s end, but five days later he broke his left hand while trying to bunt against the Cincinnati Reds.