Butler Bloodied

[bernieh]

[i:1c137033b4]by Sheldon Ocker
originally printed: The Sporting News, February 3, 1986[/i:1c137033b4]

CLEVELAND — Cleveland Indians outfielder Brett Butler may never again read a newspaper or watch television without remembering what happened to him January 16 on a racquetball court in Atlanta.

Butler, who plays racquetball regularly in the winter for exercise and to keep his hand-eye coordination sharp, turned to see how his partner was going to return the ball. When he did, he was struck in his goggles by a forehand smash.

"The goggles broke and I saw blood," said Butler. "When I looked down, I couldn't see out of my right eye."

At the hospital, Butler was told he had a 75 percent chance of regaining all the sight in his damaged eye. The problem was whether a blood clot behind the eye would slowly dissolve. The treatment was agonizingly primitive: a patch was placed over both eyes to prevent them from moving.

For four and a half days, Butler learned what it's like to be blind.
"What did I do for all that time?” Butler said. "Me and the good Lord got a lot closer. I started to appreciate some things that I used to take for granted, like being able to see.

"My wife or the nurses had to feed me and give me sponge baths. My wife read The Sporting News to me so I could keep up with what's going on.

"But I'm a very active person and after a while, I started climbing the walls. One night I was up till 4 a.m. listening to Dick Clark's 'Rock 'N Roll Remembers' because I wasn't tired enough to sleep."

The patches were removed briefly January 19 so Butler could be checked out on an eye chart. His right eye tested 25-20 — almost back to normal. He left the hospital two days later with expectations for a complete recovery, but was instructed to do nothing for two weeks.

"I'm not even allowed to lift my children," he said. "I’m supposed to act like a tree stump and watch soap operas. More tests are scheduled and if they're OK, I can do whatever I want starting February 7.”