Chris Butterfield

Christian James Butterfield

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 193 lb.
• School Cal Poly Pomona, Merced College
• High School Modesto Christian High School
• Born August 27, 1967 in Modesto, CA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Third baseman Chris Butterfield played professionally from 1989 to 1997. Though he played part of a season at Triple-A, he never ascended to the majors.

He was drafted three times. Initially, he was taken by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 26th round of the 1987 amateur draft, but opted not to sign. He was then taken by the Oakland Athletics in the 36th round of the 1988 amateur draft, but again did sign. He finally signed after being taken by the New York Mets in the 14th round of the 1989 amateur draft, one pick ahead of pitcher Mike Trombley. He was signed by scout James Woodward.

He hit .304/.383/.508 with 8 home runs, 47 RBI and 14 stolen bases in 71 games for the Pittsfield Mets his first year, tying Tim Howard for the New York-Penn League lead in triples with 8, but soon became a Mendoza line-level player. His batting averages over the succeeding seasons were .197, .225, .224, .211, .200, .000, .256 and .140, respectively. He did manage some highlights, however, including 21 steals for the St. Lucie Mets in 1990 and 14 home runs for the Binghamton Mets in 1992. He also led the Eastern League in games played with 138 in 1992, had the most strikeouts (126), and tied Brent Miller for second in intentional walks (8, behind Greg Blosser's 9). In his only taste of Triple-A, in 1994, he hit .200/.263/.362 with 4 home runs and 16 RBI in 46 games split between two organizations. He spent the final two years of his career in the independent Western League.

Overall, Butterfield hit .225/.312/.363 with 50 home runs, 267 RBI and 55 steals in 659 games over 9 seasons.