FoundSF

Historical Essay

by Matt Sieger

Brett Butler, who had a career .290 batting average, 2375 hits, and 558 stolen bases, is considered one of the best leadoff hitters of the 1980s and early 1990s. This is his story, as told to me at Candlestick Park in 1989 when he was a San Francisco Giant.

Brett Butler

Photo courtesy of San Francisco Giants

I had just completed one of the best seasons of my baseball career. I scored over 100 runs, batted .311, stole 47 bases, and led all American League outfielders in fielding percentage.

So that winter at my home in Atlanta, I was relishing the off-season and looking forward to the year ahead. But on January 16, 1986, my baseball future almost came to a sudden end.

While I was playing racquetball, the ball smashed into my right eye, breaking my protective goggles. My eye hemorrhaged and my vision was impaired. For five days, I lay on my back in the hospital with patches over both eyes.

I knew my career might be over. But, being a Christian, I put everything in God’s hands. I told Him, “If it’s Your will for me to do something else, I’ll accept that.”

When the doctors removed the bandages, they were amazed. My injured eye had cleared up. God had healed me! It was a miracle.

I hadn’t always been so submissive to the will of God. Although I grew up attending a Christian church, it wasn’t until I was a sophomore in high school that I understood I needed to accept Jesus into my heart in order to go to heaven. That year, at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes conference, I received Christ as my personal Savior. But total dedication didn’t come until later.

After graduating high school, I played junior varsity baseball at Arizona State University. Then I transferred to Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where I was an All-American in my junior and senior years. In 1979, I was drafted by the Atlanta Braves and began my climb through their minor league organization.

I saw how God was directing my steps and turned to Him for help in various matters. I even cut out drinking and tried to stop swearing. But there was one area of my life that hadn't changed -- my relationship with women.

I enjoyed wining and dining, and if it led to anything, I figured that was all right. But then I'd feel bad. I'd feel guilty because the Lord was convicting me of the fact that I was wrong.

As I struggled with this weakness, I asked God to put a Christian woman in my life. So in 1982, in Richmond, Virginia, I met Eveline Balac, who had become a Christian just a few months earlier. Three days after we met, we knew we were getting married.

We were married that same year and the Lord solidified that aspect of my life. He dealt with the one weakness I couldn't give up by putting a Christian woman in my life. It's made my entire walk with God stronger.

The Lord has blessed us with four healthy children, and they're all gifts. For me it is essential to be with your family. The constant travel in baseball makes this tougher, but we try to keep the family as close together as possible.

In life we are faced with many tests and trials, and believe me, baseball players are not exempt. If you look at athletics as a whole, there's a lot of pressure. Some people turn to drugs, to drinking, to women, or whatever it may be.

Some people have a misconception about ballplayers who are Christians. They talk about us being passive. But if Jesus Christ was a ballplayer, He'd have been the best there is. Look at Orel Hershiser or other Christian athletes who play very, very hard. You can't tell me that these are passive individuals!

I've always tried to give it my very best in baseball. But, as I've discovered, even your best is no guarantee of job security. In 1983, my first full season with the Braves, I was the starting centerfielder and the lead-off man. I set an Atlanta single-season record with 39 stolen bases, led the Major Leagues with 13 triples, and got five hits in one game against Montreal.

But late that season I was traded to the Cleveland Indians. It was a tremendous shock to me, as I'd been with the Atlanta organization since 1979.

With God's help, I was able to let the past go and gave it my all for the Indians. In 1984, I became the first player in Cleveland history to steal more than 50 bases and score more than 100 runs in the same season. I had four solid years with the Indians, averaging 41 stolen bases a season and leading the Majors in triples again in 1986. But after the 1987 season, we couldn't agree on a contract. So I decided to become a free agent.

I try to let God direct my steps, so I just said, "Okay, Lord, wherever You want me to be." I never expected San Francisco.

But I really enjoy It with the Giants. I grew up across the Bay in Fremont, so it's almost like coming home. In my first season with the new club, I led the league in runs scored and the team in stolen bases.

So, even through the unexpected changes in my career, the Lord has blessed me unbelievably.

My career didn't end the day I was playing racquetball, but it might have. Being blind for five days is a very humbling experience, but it helped me to put life in perspective.

As it Is, I'm not going to be in baseball very much longer -- five or six years, maybe. And I don’t know what the future holds. All I can do it take it one day at a time and live the way God wants me to live. When the game is over, I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

This article first appeared in Full Gospel Business Men’s Voice, July 1989.

Matt Sieger, now retired, is a former sports reporter and columnist for The Vacaville Reporter. He is the author of The God Squad: The Born-Again San Francisco Giants of 1978.