Butler to return for third season as IBL Leafs manager

Former big leaguer Rob Butler (East York, Ont.) will return for his third season as manager of the Intercounty Baseball League’s Toronto Maple Leafs in 2025. Photo: Toronto Maple Leafs

December 12, 2024

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

Former big leaguer Rob Butler will return for a third season as manager of the Intercounty Baseball League’s Toronto Maple Leafs in 2025.

The Leafs made the announcement on Wednesday.

Butler (East York, Ont.) led the Leafs to a 17-25 record in 2024 before they were ousted by the eventual IBL champion Barrie Baycats in the first round of the playoffs.

In 2023, the Leafs finished 21-20 under Butler and lost to the Welland Jackfish in the semifinals.

Butler has a long history with the IBL’s Leafs. In 2001, he joined the Leafs as a player and topped the circuit with a .488 batting average, while recording 16 doubles, six home runs, 28 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. He proceeded to play five seasons in the IBL, finishing with a career batting average of .415 with 39 home runs and 113 RBIs.

Those eye-popping numbers came after a successful big-league career that saw him make history with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Blue Jays in 1990, Butler made his major league debut with the Blue Jays on June 12, 1993. Batting ninth and playing left field, he went 1-for-4 against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. His first major league hit was a single off left-handed reliever Tom Bolton to lead off the ninth inning.

Butler went on to bat .271 in 17 games for the Blue Jays that season and was on the postseason roster of the World Series-winning squad. In Game 4 of the World Series, he became the first Canadian to score a run for a Canadian team in the Fall Classic. The following contest, he became the first Canuck to register a hit for a Canadian team in the World Series. And with the Blue Jays’ victory in Game 6, he became the only Canadian player to be on the roster of Canadian World Series-winning team.

In total, Butler batted .243 in 109 major league games with the Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies between 1993 and 1999.

Since hanging up his playing spikes, Butler has also coached and advised amateur players across Canada and has worked with the Junior National Team.