Butcher Wants to Take the Bull by Horns Again : Angels: Right-hander who gives up four earned runs in a third of an inning vows to become more aggressive.

ANAHEIM — It was one of the sentences Angel Manager Buck Rodgers thought he would never say, along with “Pass the piano,” and “Please cut off my leg.”

But there he was, sitting in his office after the Angels lost to Toronto, 5-4, Saturday night at Anaheim Stadium. His mouth was moving and the words coming out were, “Mike Butcher just needs to be more aggressive.”

Mike Butcher more aggressive? After all, this is a guy who once during his high school football career challenged the other team--the entire other team--to fight.

“He has to start going after hitters with his fastball,” Rodgers said. “He has to start trusting his fastball again. He has too good of an arm to be in this predicament. He threw all breaking balls tonight, maybe two or three fastballs.”

Rodgers called for Butcher in the seventh inning Saturday night with the score tied, 4-4, after Bob Patterson had walked Alex Gonzalez and struck out the next two batters. Butcher walked Paul Molitor and Joe Carter to load the bases and then John Olerud drove in the winning run with a check swing single to shortstop off Craig Lefferts.

Friday night, Butcher got one out while giving up five hits and four runs.

Butcher, who was originally destined to be the Angels’ closer out of the bullpen, has made five appearances this year and three of the runners he’s inherited have scored. His earned-run average is 9.82.

“It’s true, I just have to be more aggressive,” Butcher said. “I feel that’s my only problem right now. I’m trying to nibble and that’s just not the kind of pitcher I am.

“It’s weird. I know I have good stuff but I just seem to have lost my confidence. I can’t be afraid to get hit. I have to go right after guys.”

Butcher had a horrible spring training--his ERA was 14.81 and opponents hit .442 against him--but he says that was not really the source of his lost confidence.

“Spring training is just a place to go to work,” Butcher said. “There’s no crowd, the games are meaningless and it’s absolutely no fun. There’s no motivation other than to work on pitching well and by that I mean throwing curves and sliders for strikes.

“But nobody ever took a ring home from spring training.”

So when did the man who used to strike fear and then strike them out turn into a timid pitcher?

“It’s not easy to trace it to an exact moment or anything like that,” he said. “It just sort of gradually came about. I had a long talk with Mark Langston during the game and he told me that the same thing happened to him in 1990 and that he could see it happening to me. It’s really nice to have that sort of advice from a player you respect.

“I’m just trying to work the corners and that’s not me. I mean I can throw strikes there, but I need to start going after guys. I need to start trusting my fastball again, start believing again. I can’t be afraid to get hit.

“You know, in a funny way, the last two days have been very bad for me in a good way. I’m going to be aggressive again. I’m going to change right now.”