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Rotoworld Updates on Josh Butler and Mark DiFelice

Now 43 men on the 40-man roster, three on the 60-day DL.

McCalvy

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At the Buzzer: San Ramon Valley product makes it to the show
By Kyle Bonagura
Tri-Valley Herald

When Josh Butler woke up Monday, he was set to begin a 2,000-mile road trip from Huntsville, Ala., to San Diego.

Butler's Double-A baseball team, the Huntsville Stars, had just been eliminated from the playoffs and he figured he had a few weeks to kill before joining the Milwaukee Brewers Fall League team in Arizona at the beginning of October.

But before the 2003 graduate of San Ramon Valley High hit the road, he received a text message from Milwaukee's assistant general manger, Gord Ash.

"It just said 'Have you left yet?'" Butler said. "I told him no and then he called me."

Ash told him they needed him in Chicago, where the Brewers were about to start a series with the Chicago Cubs, and that he was booked on a flight from Huntsville to Chicago later that day.

"I was shocked. I'm still shocked," Butler said Tuesday. "I talked to him again that night when I got to Chicago and he told me they decided to activate me and what time I needed to be at the field."

Not just a field - the field. Wrigley Field.

I can't say this comes as much of a surprise. I've known Josh since I was in second grade and grew up playing Little League baseball (Canyon Creek), youth soccer (San Ramon Soccer Club) and CYO basketball (St. Joan of Arc) with him in the San Ramon Valley - he has been one of my best friends since we were 9 years old.

Some of our old soccer teammates still joke that he was a better goalie than baseball player, and somewhere there is a tape of him dunking over a kid in a freshman basketball game at Cal High.

It never really was a matter of if he was going to be a pro athlete; it was a matter of when, and in what sport.

"Realistically, I didn't know if I had a chance to make it (to the major leagues) until my junior year (at the University of San Diego)," said Butler, who was drafted by Tampa Bay in the second round of the 2006 draft before being traded for Gabe Gross last year. "That's when I thought it was really possible."

After two up-and-down years in the minors, Butler finally put it all together this year, compiling a 9-3 record and a 2.97 era for four teams in the Brewers' minor league system - including three starts with Triple-A Nashville.

"You kind of learn that players aren't that much more talented, they are just more consistent," he said. "Everyone I've talked to said it's the same game (in the majors), but it's just in a bigger stadium."

He was officially added to the 40-man roster on Tuesday and will wear No. 62, but it's unclear what the Brewers have planned for him the rest of the season. He could end up as a starter or in a long-relief role out of the bullpen.

In 2001 and 2002, Butler was a teammate of current San Francisco Giants outfielder Nate Schierholtz at San Ramon Valley.

"It's pretty extraordinary that two guys from the same high school team are both in the majors," said Rick Steen, who was the coach at San Ramon Valley when Butler and Schierholtz were there. "I'm not really surprised that either of them made it; they were both such good athletes."

Brad Bergesen, who graduated from Foothill in 2004, has been in the majors nearly all season with the Baltimore Orioles and is 7-5 with a 3.53 ERA - meaning three players who were in the East Bay Athletic League at the same time have now ascended to the highest level of baseball.

"It says a lot about the talent (in the Tri-Valley) year in and year out," Butler said.