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Brett Butler had to prove himself every step of his baseball journey. He had no scholarship offers out of high school. At 5’10”, 170 pounds few if any saw him as a pro prospect.

Butler did not play Division I baseball in college. He didn’t even play Division II. In fact, he felt fortunate to make the NAIA’s Southeastern Oklahoma State University.

Given the chance to play, Butler starred.

A two-time NAIA All-American, Butler was the school’s first .400 hitter in 1977. By the time he left campus he was the university’s career leader in walks, hits, triples, homers, runs, and batting average.

Butler felt ready to make the next step to professional baseball. Scouts weren’t so sure. Five-hundred-seventy-two players were drafted ahead of the outfielder by the time the Braves called his name in 1979.

Once in the pros, the leadoff hitter quickly progressed, hitting .338 in four minor league seasons. He came up to the Braves in 1981 and hit .260 in parts of three seasons in the show. Atlanta discarded him to Cleveland as a player to be named later to complete the trade for Len Barker.

In Cleveland Butler found his footing. From 1984-1987 with the Tribe he hit .288, averaging 99 runs scored, 166 hits, and 41 stolen bases per year. In 1985 during his second season with the Indians, Southeastern Oklahoma State University voted him their school’s athletic Hall of Fame.

After the ’87 season, Butler moved to the National League with the Giants. In San Francisco he continued to improve. Three years by the Bay included a .293 average, a .381 on-base percentage, and a 119 OPS+.

Butler signed with the rival Dodgers after the ’90 season. From 1991-1994 in Los Angeles, Butler was at his best. The first year he topped the National League in runs and walks and made the All Star team. The centerfielder did not commit an error in 161 games. His performance earned Butler a seventh-place finish in MVP balloting. During the four-year run he hit .303 with a .402 on-base percentage.

Butler’s time with the Dodgers ran from 1991-1997. It was briefly interrupted when he signed with the Mets in April, 1995. Four months later New York traded him back to Los Angeles.

In May of 1996 Butler was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma and later had a tumor removed. He defied doctors’ expectations and returned to the playing field in September. Butler’s final season came in 1997 in his age-40 campaign.

When he left the game, the All Star boasted 2,375 hits, 558 stolen bases, a .290 average, and a .377 on-base percentage. One of the best leadoff hitters of his day, Butler received MVP votes in five seasons from 1988-1994. According to Baseball Reference, the most similar player to Butler in baseball history is Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn.

In the end, Butler proved all the doubters wrong.

Shown here is Butler’s first Topps baseball card, a 1982 Future Stars card depicting him with the Atlanta Braves. Butler signed the card just below his picture.