Brian James Butterfield (born March 9, 1958) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

coach, and a former

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and

infield Infield is a sports term whose definition depends on the sport in whose context it is used. Baseball In baseball, the baseball field, diamond, as well as the area immediately beyond it, has both grass and dirt, in contrast to the more distant, ...

instructor. He has coached for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

, and

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB).

Early years

Born in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...

, Butterfield is the son of the late Jack Butterfield, a longtime

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

coach who was vice-president of player development and scouting for the

from 1977 until his death in November 1979. The younger Butterfield attended the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

, where his father was head baseball coach from 1957 to 1974, and still resides in

Orono, Maine Orono ( ) is a New England town, town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Located on the Penobscot River, Penobscot and Stillwater River (Maine), Stillwater rivers, it was first settled by Province of Maine, American colonists in 1774. ...

. He also attended Valencia Community College and graduated from

Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. It offers undergraduate, gradua ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in 1980. In 1976, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, where he helped lead the team to the league title. He is the nephew of College Football Hall of Fame Coach Jim Butterfield.

Playing career

During his active career, Butterfield was a

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

in the Yankees'

system, playing for five seasons (1979–83) and batting .249 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

in 397

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Associat ...

, largely at the full-season Class A level. A

switch hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers, although there are some exceptions. Characteristics Right-han ...

who threw

right-handed In human biology, handedness is an individual's preferential use of one hand, known as the dominant hand, due to and causing it to be stronger, faster or more Fine motor skill, dextrous. The other hand, comparatively often the weaker, less dext ...

, he was listed at tall and .

Early coaching career

Butterfield's coaching career began during his professional playing days as a part-time assistant at Florida Southern (1979) and

Eckerd College Eckerd College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. Founded in 1958, part of the campus is waterfront (area), waterfront and beach on Boca Ciega ...

(1980–81). After his playing career ended, he became a roving infield instructor in the Yankees' organization, then a coach at different levels of the Bombers'

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

. He also managed the Short Season-A Oneonta Yankees (1989) and Class A Greensboro Hornets (1990) and Fort Lauderdale Yankees (1992), before joining the Major League staff of Yankees' manager Buck Showalter as first-base coach in 1994–95. After he was replaced by

Joe Torre Joseph Paul Torre Jr. (; born July 18, 1940) is an American professional baseball Senior management, executive and former player, Manager (baseball), manager, and television color commentator. He has served as a special assistant to the Commiss ...

as the Yankees' pilot after the season, Showalter was promptly named the first manager of the expansion

, set to begin play during the

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

season. Hired with two seasons to prepare for the team's debut, Showalter brought several Yankees' instructors with him to Phoenix, including Butterfield, to implement the Diamondbacks' player development program. Butterfield was named roving minor league infield instructor in 1996 and then, in 1997, manager of the D-backs' Rookie-level team, the Arizona League Diamondbacks. Butterfield then became the first third-base coach in the Diamondbacks' Major League history, serving under Showalter in 1998–2000. After Showalter's firing following the season, Butterfield returned to the Yankees as a minor league manager, helming the Tampa Yankees of the Class A

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

(2001) and beginning 2002 as manager of the Triple-A

Columbus Clippers The Columbus Clippers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They are located in Columbus, Ohio, and are named for speedy Merchant ship, merch ...

of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major ...

. However, the Clippers got off to a poor, 12–25 start and Butterfield was fired on May 16, 2002. Less than three weeks later, on June 3, 2002, Carlos Tosca, a coaching colleague of Butterfield's with the Diamondbacks, was appointed manager of the

. He hired Butterfield as his third-base coach, beginning a -year tenure for Butterfield in Toronto. During that time, Butterfield served under four different Blue Jay managers.

Infield coaching career

Butterfield has earned a reputation throughout baseball as a premier infield coach. Orlando Hudson, who was recognized as one of the best defensive

in baseball during his 11-year MLB career, and winner of the

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

in and , has stated that Butterfield deserves immense credit for making him the defensive player he is. Under Butterfield's tutelage Aaron Hill, a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

by trade, became an above-average defensive second baseman. Butterfield worked very closely with the young and talented Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie. It was announced on September 30, , that Butterfield would be the bench coach for the Blue Jays in , replacing Ernie Whitt. On October 30, 2009, it was announced that Butterfield would once again be the Blue Jays' third base coach for the 2010 season. During the 2010 off-season, Butterfield was one of four finalists for the Blue Jays' managerial job, along with John Farrell, DeMarlo Hale, and Sandy Alomar Jr. Two years later, after Farrell's return to the Red Sox as their manager for , Butterfield was again a finalist for the Jays' managerial opening. When John Gibbons got the Blue Jays' job, Butterfield joined Farrell and the Red Sox on October 30, 2012, as third-base coach. He served through the Red Sox' 2013 World Series championship season, coaching third base, positioning the infielders defensively, working with young players Will Middlebrooks and Xander Bogaerts, and helping to convert Mike Napoli from

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. Butterfield was rehired for with the rest of Farrell's staff after the World Series triumph, and remained the team's third-base and infield coach through October 26, 2017, when, two weeks after Farrell's firing, Butterfield took a similar job on the staff of the

. Butterfield was hired by the

as their third base coach prior to the 2020 season. The Angels dismissed Butterfield after the 2021 season. On January 21, 2022, it was reported that Butterfield was denied a role on the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

staff for his refusal to receive the

COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...

References

External links

, o
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Butterfield, Brian 1958 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks coaches Baseball coaches from Maine Baseball players from Penobscot County, Maine Boston Red Sox coaches Chicago Cubs coaches Columbus Clippers players Florida Southern Moccasins baseball players Fort Lauderdale Yankees managers Fort Lauderdale Yankees players Greensboro Hornets players Los Angeles Angels coaches Maine Black Bears baseball players Major League Baseball bench coaches Major League Baseball third base coaches Miami Marlins (FSL) players Nashville Sounds players New York Yankees coaches Oneonta Yankees players People from Orono, Maine Sportspeople from Bangor, Maine Toronto Blue Jays coaches Wareham Gatemen players 20th-century American sportsmen