WEST SACRAMENTO — Lawrence Butler sprawled out across home plate on his stomach, arms extended. Before picking his 6-foot-3 frame up off the infield dirt and trotting back to the dugout, the Athletics outfielder couldn’t help but exhale.
Take it from the last A’s player to hit one: Inside-the-park home runs can be quite tiring.
“I just remember being exhausted, that’s all,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said.
That’s right: Before Butler smoked the first pitch he saw in Tuesday’s 10-1 win over the Braves for a leadoff inside-the-park homer, the most recent A’s inside-the-parker belonged to his skipper — back on Oct. 4, 2006, in Game 2 of the American League Division Series in Minnesota.
Nearly 20 years later, Butler added his name to the ledger as part of a historic night. After becoming the first A’s hitter since Elmer Valo since 1943 to lead off a game with an inside-the-park homer, he added a solo smash over the center-field fence at Sutter Health Park in the third.
Entering Tuesday, the previous A’s player to hit inside-the-park AND over-the-fence homers in the same game was Billy Williams, who did so in the second game of a doubleheader on Aug. 23, 1975.
Even more history was made on Tuesday: Thanks to Giants catcher Patrick Bailey’s wild heroics in San Francisco, it was the first day in MLB history to feature a leadoff inside-the-park home run and a walk-off inside-the-park home run.
Butler didn’t know the rarity of his big night, but he was happy to hear it.
“Shoutout to Billy Williams,” he proclaimed.
Brent Rooker and Max Muncy clubbed two-run homers in a five-run first inning, before rookie first baseman Nick Kurtz slugged his first career grand slam in the second. By the time Butler came up for the third time (in only the third inning), the A’s held a 9-0 lead.
It was clear Butler’s inside-the-park shot — on the first pitch Braves starter Didier Fuentes threw — had sparked something.
On a center-cut 95.5 mph fastball from Fuentes, Butler sliced a 96.3 mph liner deep toward the angled wall in right-center at Sutter Health Park. He took it slow around first base, hoping he’d cleared the fence — until he noticed something.
“I saw it bounce, and that’s when I was like, ‘Alright, maybe I’ve got a chance to get all the way around the bases,’” Butler said.
The baseball caromed toward right field, away from both Braves center fielder Stuart Fairchild and right fielder Eli White.
Butler picked up his speed, and it wasn’t all that close: He dove headfirst across the plate before first baseman Matt Olson could even attempt a relay throw.
After taking 5.46 seconds to reach first base — compared to a 5.49-second mark on his over-the-fence homer — Butler rounded the bases in 15.89 seconds. While Statcast tracking wasn’t around back in 2006, not to mention Butler being unaware of Kotsay’s postseason dash, the A’s outfielder was confident in his speed nevertheless.
“Who had the fastest time?” Butler said from a chair in the A’s clubhouse, sporting dirt and grass stains on both knees. “I think I’ve got him beat.”
As Butler was with Triple-A Las Vegas last spring while the A’s played the Braves on the road, the outfielder — who grew up in Atlanta — made his first game against his hometown club memorable. Asked if he had any added motivation to face the Braves for the first time, Butler smiled.
“It’s always a kid’s dream playing against a team that they grew up rooting for, so I felt like I was a little amped up today as well,” he said.
It wasn’t just his two homers, although both certainly made a splash. Butler also drew a walk in the second inning and scored on Kurtz’s grand slam. In the eighth, he made a sliding snag of a 110.9 mph Austin Riley line drive to right field.
His big night was further proof of a positive development for the A’s: Butler has not only been one of the club’s most talented players but one of its most reliable.
Butler’s OPS hasn’t sunk below .740 since May 25, and his batting average has hovered around .250.
“It’s just the consistency, really,” Kotsay said. “I think last year there were a lot of peaks and valleys, and we don’t really see the valleys as much.”
The peaks sure are fun. As the West Sacramento crowd roared its approval after Butler’s dash around the bags Tuesday night, the outfielder spread out across the plate with his mouth open, looking simultaneously proud and stunned.
Then he took a breath. Butler was tired, too.