Upon graduating, he announced plans to play baseball in college, and his high school coach, Ernie Ritta, scoffed.

The outfielder led the Savages to championships during all three years at Southeastern including an NAIA national runner-up finish in 1977.

The Braves were building a contending team with players like Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, and Glenn Hubbard after years of losing, but they lacked a leadoff hitter with speed.

In October 1983, Butler was sent to the Cleveland Indians (along with Brook Jacoby and Rick Behenna) to complete a deal in which the Braves had acquired Len Barker for cash, toward the end of the 1983 season.

Butler signed with the San Francisco Giants as a free agent after the 1987 season and established himself as one of the premier leadoff hitters in the National League.

He helped the Giants to the NL pennant in 1989, as the leadoff hitter in a lineup that included Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, and Matt Williams.

Following an operation to remove the tumor, and intensive treatment to combat the disease, he returned to the Dodgers' lineup in September of the same year—defying the predictions of those who had speculated he would never be able to play again.

[3] Butler finished the 1996 season with the Dodgers and played with them for one more year, participating in his final game on September 28, 1997.

Butler helped coach the Dodgers to a second-place finish in the Minor League championship game that season.

He was hired to manage the Mobile BayBears, a newly acquired Double-AA team for the Arizona Diamondbacks, for the 2007 season.

[citation needed] In October 2008, it was announced that Butler was hired to manage the Reno Aces of the Class-AAA club for the Arizona Diamondbacks.