Brian Butterfield

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Brian James Butterfield

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

The son of late New York Yankees executive Jack Butterfield, Brian Butterfield played at three schools during his college career. A second baseman, he signed with the Yankees organization in 1979. Originally a right-handed hitter only, he made himself into a switch-hitter. He hit .218/~.203/.235 for the Oneonta Yankees in his first year. In 1980, Brian went 2 for 16 with four walks for the Fort Lauderdale Yankees and .227/~.344/.254 with the Greensboro Hornets. He returned to Fort Lauderdale in 1981 for a .286 season, then hit .259 for them in 1982 and .133 in a brief appearance with the Nashville Sounds. He also briefly reached the AAA level in 1982, hitting .417 in 13 games with the Columbus Clippers. The following year, his final season as a player, he played in the San Diego Padres farm system. He was used by the 1983 Miami Marlins as a utility infielder, hitting .238/~.367/.283.

Butterfield began his coaching career in 1984 as a roving infield instructor for the Yankees and then coached various clubs in the organization over the next three seasons. He managed in the Yankees chain from 1988 to 1990 and in 1992, winning a Gulf Coast League championship in 1988, and was infield instructor again in 1991. After a stint as a coach with the Albany-Colonie Yankees in 1993, Butterfield was a member of the New York Yankees coaching staff in 1994 and 1995.

In 1996, Butterfield moved to the Arizona Diamondbacks and was their minor league infield instructor for two years before serving as the third base coach for the big league team when it began to play, from 1998 to 2000. He rejoined the Yankees as a minor league manager in 2001, leading the Tampa Yankees to a league co-championship. He began 2002 as skipper of the Columbus Clippers before being dismissed in May. Less than a month later, he joined the Toronto Blue Jays as third base coach, replacing Carlos Tosca who was named manager.

Tosca and Butterfield had previously worked together with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Butterfield would continue on as the Blue Jays third base coach through Tosca's and John Gibbons' coaching staffs through the 2007 season. In 2008 he was promoted to bench coach and served there under both Gibbons and Cito Gaston though the 2010 season. When John Farrell was named manager in 2011, Butterfield returned to his previous post of third base coach. In 2013, he followed Farrell to the Boston Red Sox. He stayed as long as Farrell was the manager, until the end of the 2017 season, then moved to the Chicago Cubs in 2018, also as their third base coach. In Chicago, he worked for Joe Maddon, and when Maddon moved over to the Los Angeles Angels in 2020, Butterfield followed him as the team's third base coach. He left after the 2021 season.

Coaching Career[edit]

Year-by-Year Managerial Record[edit]

Year Team League Record Finish Organization Playoffs Notes
1988 GCL Yankees Gulf Coast League 45-18 1st New York Yankees League Champs
1989 Oneonta Yankees New York-Penn League 48-27 2nd New York Yankees
1990 Greensboro Hornets South Atlantic League 59-85 5th New York Yankees
1992 Fort Lauderdale Yankees Florida State League 59-76 10th New York Yankees
1997 AZL Diamondbacks Arizona League 27-29 4th Arizona Diamondbacks shared position with Don Wakamatsu
2001 Tampa Yankees Florida State League 77-62 1st New York Yankees League Co-Champs
2002 Columbus Clippers International League 12-25 -- New York Yankees Replaced by Frank Howard on May 16

Related Sites[edit]

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