Butler Back With L.A. After Dodging Cancer

It’s been less than four months since the operations to remove the cancer from his neck, but there was Brett Butler, working out with the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

“I’m not 100 percent but I’m working on that,” Butler said after his first workout with L.A. since he last played on May 1.

“The question is: Can I play at the major league level and produce?” he said. “That’s the level we’re trying to reach.”

Butler, 39, hit in the batting cage and shagged fly balls in the outfield before Tuesday night’s game with the Montreal Expos.

“I’ve been hitting on a college field but I couldn’t really gauge how I was hitting,” he said. “Here, I wanted to see if I could pull the ball, hit up the middle, hit it into the seats. I was swinging well today and making good contact. I thought I did well.”

Butler arrived ahead of the team on Monday from New Orleans, where he had been working out on his own to begin the process of trying to regain major league form.

Should he succeed, he could be back in center field by the end of the season. For now, he’ll work out daily and cheer on his teammates from the dugout as they chase San Diego in the N.L. West.

“I didn’t work this hard to come back and be a cheerleader,” Butler said. “I did it to come back and try to help this club.

“I won’t play unless I can help the club. So we’ll see. My body will tell me if I can do it,” he said.

Butler underwent operations on May 2 and May 21 to remove cancer from his tonsils and neck. After radiation and treatments to rebuild his immune system, the 16-year major league veteran was cleared to start working out.

Recent tests showed no cancer in his blood. He has regained his normal weight in the 160-pound range and now has to get his reflexes and conditioning back to scratch.