Player, coach, now manager. Rob Butler has learned to be comfortable in just about any baseball uniform.
The former Blue Jays outfielder will make his debut as an Intercounty Baseball League manager with the 海角社区官网Maple Leafs on Sunday afternoon against the London Majors at Christie Pits. It鈥檚 the next logical step for a 53-year-old baseball lifer who grew up in East York, made Canada鈥檚 Olympic team at 18 and is the only Canadian ever to win a World Series with the Jays (1993).
鈥淚t鈥檚 something I鈥檝e always been interested in, even when I was playing back in the early 2000s for (longtime Leafs co-owner) Jack Dominico,鈥 said Butler, who led the Intercounty circuit with a .488 batting average in 2001 and played five seasons in all.
鈥淚鈥檝e been coaching for the last 20 years 鈥 elite programs, the junior national team 鈥 and I love doing it. I love being there for the guys. I鈥檓 totally a player鈥檚 kind of coach. So, being someone who was close to Jack 鈥 when I left playing in 2004, I told him that if you ever want me to come back and coach one day, I鈥檇 do it.鈥
Dominico and his wife Lynn owned and operated the Leafs for 52 years. They worked tirelessly year-round, from selling ads in the game program to 50/50 tickets on game days.
After Jack鈥檚 death in January 2022 at age 82, the franchise underwent significant change. 鈥 who had spent 28 years with the Leafs, including playing days 鈥 left in January. last season鈥檚 manager, also moved on. and led the search for a new field boss.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 want to rush the process with our new manager. We knew the team was good. We just needed the right fit 鈥 and Rob was the right fit,鈥 said Lounsbury, former GM of the Intercounty league鈥檚 Hamilton Cardinals and ex-coach at Brock University.
Butler is grateful for the opportunity. Four years ago, he sold the Ajax baseball academy he ran with his brother Rich (who played parts of three seasons with the Jays and Tampa Bay Rays). Since then, he has coached at several levels and had a hand in the progress of, among others, Toronto-born infielder Tyler Black, the Milwaukee Brewers鈥 minor-league player of the month for April.
鈥淚 think I bring knowledge on how to treat players,鈥 said Butler, charged with trying to get the Leafs over the hump after losing to London in the final the past two seasons.
Butler totalled 53 hits in 218 at-bats over four years with the Jays and Phillies, plus a pinch-hit single off Philadelphia ace Curt Schilling in the 1993 World Series. He said he was 鈥渁 nervous wreck鈥 as a player, but has found a comfort zone off the field with the help of several notables with big-league connections: managers Terry Francona and Mark Bombard; ex-Jays Ernie Whitt and Garth Iorg, coaches with Canada鈥檚 national team; and Jays minor-league manager Dennis Holmberg.
鈥淛ust great guys on how to treat players to calm them down, because they have an understanding that it鈥檚 not easy to be a baseball player,鈥 said Butler. 鈥淎 lot of guys are nervous and insecure inside; it鈥檚 an insecure type of game. But with the right coach and manager, guys can thrive.
鈥淚鈥檝e chosen the side to help players relax and just play the game.鈥
Butler鈥檚 parents, Frank and Debra, made plans to fly in from Newfoundland for Sunday鈥檚 2 p.m. season opener at Christie Pits. The newly installed manager recalled an anecdote about how they kept him grounded as a successful player in his youth.
鈥淚 had all these photos I took with people like Geddy Lee and Wayne Gretzky, and they were in a shed because I was brought up to never show off,鈥 Butler said. 鈥淏ut my wife (Sherri) took them out and had them all framed, and she put them all up on the walls in our basement. She said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e not showing off, you鈥檙e showing your history.鈥欌
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