Sal Butera

Salvatore Philip Butera (born September 25, 1952) was a Major League Baseball catcher and is currently a Special Assistant to Toronto Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos.

Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent in 1972, Butera would make his major league debut in an extra innings game against the Oakland Athletics on April 10, 1980. He struck out in his only at bat.^[1]

Butera remained with the Twins as Butch Wynegar's back-up until Spring training 1983 when he was dealt to the Detroit Tigers. Injuries limited Butera to only four games with the Tigers, and he was released at the end of the season.

Butera spent the 1984 season with the Montreal Expos' triple A American Association affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, and appeared in three games for the Expos following a September call-up. After the 1985 season, he was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds with Bill Gullickson for Dann Bilardello, Andy McGaffigan, John Stuper and Jay Tibbs. He was released by Cincinnati during the 1987 season, and was immediately resigned by his original franchise, the Minnesota Twins. Butera was a member of the Twins team that defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1987 World Series. He was released, resigned, and released again by the Twins during the 1987-1988 offseason, then was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays, where he played in 23 more games.^[2]

Sal and his wife have a son; Drew, born August 9, 1983, who is the Minnesota Twins back-up catcher to Joe Mauer. Sal & Drew are the first father-son combo in Twins history.

References

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube