Butler Ready for Season

Center fielder Brett Butler, barring unforeseen complications, said he will return for the 1997 season.

“Physically, I know now that I can do it,” Butler said. “So the question is, ‘Mentally, do you want do it?’

“The answer is, ‘Yes, of course I do.’ ”

Butler has shown no ill effects this spring from his tonsil cancer of a year ago. He was examined Saturday by his personal physician, Robert Gadlage, and given a clean bill of health.

Butler, whose comeback ended Sept. 10 when he was hit by a pitch and suffered a broken left hand, even had his psyche tested Saturday during the Dodgers’ “B” game against the New York Mets. Butler tried to bunt, and was brushed off the plate by an inside pitch from Jason Isringhausen.

Butler stepped back into the batter’s box and laid down a perfect bunt for a single.

“I had to lay one down,” Butler said, “or else you get the phobia.”

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The Dodgers defeated the Orioles, 8-2, in the “A” game in Ft. Lauderdale, producing a spring-high 18 hits. . . . Hideo Nomo continued to have control problems in the “B” game, walking three batters and striking out five in four innings. “It’s just something I have to work on,” Nomo said. . . . Reliever Darren Hall pitched a perfect inning in his first outing since being hit by a line drive. “Hey, three hitters without anybody hitting the ball back at me, that’s a nice change,” Hall said.