Cape Catfish hire experienced, successful Texan to guide team in 2024

There is a level of expectation that comes with signing up to be a part of the Cape Catfish baseball organization, and Phil Butler doesn’t find that intimidating, he embraces it.

“It seems like a great opportunity and a great organization to be a part of,” Butler said.

Butler was recently hired to be the manager of the Catfish for the 2024 season, and he can’t wait to get started in maintaining the championship culture that the Catfish have created since the inception of the franchise.

“I think that it is a really cool opportunity,” Butler said. “I think (team general manager) Mark Hogan has put together a really good roster. I want to be a part of that (championship) tradition.”

The Catfish will embark on their fifth season (the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID) and played for the Prospect League championship in 2019 (the team’s initial season) and won the league title in 2021.

Last season, Cape opened the summer with a 12-game win streak, which set a new mark for the league and won the Prairie Land Division.

“The expectation,” Butler said, "is to help the Catfish get another championship. That is my ultimate goal. I’ve won a championship at every level that I have been at, so that is always my ultimate goal.”

Butler resides in Coleman, Texas, where he helps operate his family’s 160-acre ranch, however, he has deep ties to baseball in the Midwest.

He is a member of the Shawnee State University (NAIA) Athletic Hall of Fame after playing baseball at the Portsmouth, Ohio college, and he served as an assistant with the program for eight seasons and head coach for four more before returning to Texas.

As a player at Shawnee State, Butler was a critical piece of the program’s American Mideast Conference Championship season in 2010 and led the team to the Mid-South Conference Tournament Championship in 2011.

His 2011 season was spectacular, as he hit .356 with a .422 on-base percentage and a .611 slugging percentage. He powered 10 home runs, 21 doubles, and 74 RBIs that spring.

Butler was an NAIA All-American honorable mention selection in 2010 and would be named first-team NAIA All-American in 2011.

“It turned out to be the best decision that I have ever made,” Butler said of attending Shawnee State. “I was a two-time All-American, I stood out, and I went on to play three years of pro ball.”

It was that pro experience, which gave him his first exposure to Cape Girardeau.

While with the Southern Illinois Miners in Marion, Ill., Butler, who played catcher, would sometimes play preseason games at Capaha Field.

Butler also brings coaching experience from managing the Southern Ohio Copperheads for three seasons (a 69-49 career record) in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League, including winning the league title in 2018.

He was named Manager of the Year in the league that season.

“As a catcher,” Butler explained, “you are kind of a coach on the field. You see everything. For one, you are coaching the pitchers, which is the most essential part of the game, the pitching and defense, in my opinion.

“You are watching it every single pitch, so (the coaching) kind of sticks with you.”

Butler knew when he played high school baseball in Spring, Texas that he wanted to coach baseball, and he has never allowed that passion to fade.

“I want to start touching base with the players and creating relationships,” Butler said, “and making sure that we are doing things as professionally as possible.

“We’re going to run this how a professional team runs things because I have been around a ton of professional guys. It’s been a joy to talk with Mark and (team president) Glenn Campbell almost every day. This gives me another chance to get back into (the game) and try to win another championship. I love winning jewelry.”

The Catfish open their 2024 season at the Jackson (Tenn.) Rockabillys. Cape’s home debut will be the following day (May 30) against the Full Count Rhythm out of Hendersonville, Tenn.