Cheap Seats

Coach, can you put in someone else?

Brett Butler still has to drink a lot of water because his salivary glands are not functioning properly after his May 1996 cancer surgery.

That presented a problem when he was quickly inserted in center field in the sixth inning of a recent game. Butler had been on his way to the restroom when Dodgers manager Bill Russell called on him.

So he had to stand out there and endure a six-batter inning before relieving himself. And he had to do that quickly. He was the first batter in the seventh.

“I can’t hold it so well anymore,” the 40-year-old Butler said. “I’m getting old.”

He’s not used to such prestigious company

Former Cincinnati Bengals’ coach Sam Wyche, now a studio analyst for NBC, stopped by the Cincinnati camp to say hello to current coach Bruce Coslet.

As Wyche walked across the field, Coslet shouted, “Get the media off the field.”

Turns out Coslet was kidding … but it disarmed Wyche.

“I’m still not used to my name and the media being used in the same sentence,” Wyche said.

Don’t worry, Sam, we don’t consider you part of the media, either.

He has a leg up on the competition

There is, of course, the very serious side to being an amputee.

There is dealing with a missing limb or limbs.

There are visits to schools and rehabilitation hospitals.

For Michael Ginal of Depew, N.Y. - a backup Harvard hockey goalie and a competitor in the National Amputee Golf Association championship at Marshfield Country Club recently - there are talks with kids and their parents about what it’s like to lose a limb at a very young age. There are talks with kids, promoting acceptance and understanding, about a prosthesis being not any different from glasses and being just another challenge to face.

Then there is the less-than-serious side to being an amputee.

Such as team pranks.

“Like when they hide my leg,” Ginal said. “Or when we’re on the bus and they pass it around. One guy had a 21st birthday and we drank out of it. It’s a lot of fun.”

Was Shawn Kemp on that bus?

Nothing on Down Under

Peter Schiltz, player-coach of the Bungaree team in the Australian Rules football league, said he made the team strip in 35-degree weather during practice because of a string of losses.

“I was looking for a bit of inspiration,” Schiltz said. “It was a spur-of-the-moment decision.”

The players did a lap around the field and a 10-minute ball drill.

“Something needed to be done to lift our spirits and liven up training,” Schiltz said.

They should keep their shorts on. Bungaree lost its next game.

The last word …

“When I first got up, I asked the ump if I could stand behind him.”

- Chicago White Sox second baseman Ray Durham, about Randy Johnson’s 19-strikeout performance Aug. 8

, DataTimes