Justin Brent Butler (born February 11, 1978) is a retired

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

utility infielder. Butler attended

Scotland High School Scotland High School is located in Laurinburg, North Carolina. It is a part of the Scotland County Schools district. Athletics Scotland is a member of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA). Their team name is the "Fighting ...

in Laurinburg, North Carolina, graduating in 1996. He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 3rd round of the 1996

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

amateur draft, and made his

debut with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

on July 4, 2001. Butler appeared in his final game on June 19,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

.Brent Butler Stats
''Baseball-Reference''. Retrieved December 24, 2021. During his first season at the Major League level, Butler compiled a .244 batting average in limited playing time. The Rockies manager at the time, Buddy Bell, used Butler primarily off of the bench as

Todd Walker Todd Arthur Walker (born May 25, 1973) is a former professional baseball infielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1996 to 2007. Listed at and , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Walker played college baseball at Louis ...

served as the Rockies starting second baseman. After Walker's departure from the team at the end of the 2001 season, Butler saw his greatest amount of playing time. During the 2002 season, Butler served as the Rockies starting second baseman. However, after compiling only a .259 batting average with a .287 OBP, the Rockies signed Ronnie Belliard as their starting second baseman for the 2003 season, relegating Butler to a reserve role again. Once the 2003 season concluded, the Rockies released Butler. Although Butler continued competing at the minor league level for the St. Louis Cardinals,

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

, and

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

, he never returned to the major leagues after his Rockies release.

References

External links

Baseball players from North Carolina 1978 births Living people Colorado Rockies players Major League Baseball infielders {{US-baseball-infielder-stub