A's outfielder Lawrence Butler didn't technically say that

Jason Burke | Oct 10, 2024

Sep 26, 2024; Oakland, California, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher T.J. McFarland (48) high fives outfielder Lawrence Butler (4) after defeating the Texas Rangers at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images / Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images

Earlier this week A's outfielder Lawrence Butler made an appearance on the Rose Rotation with Chris Rose, and he was asked what, if anything, Butler and his teammates have been told by the team about playing in Sacramento.

"What I know as of right now is that they're making renovations to like, the field and stuff like that. I know our locker room is going to be in center field. They're turfing the whole outfield...that's pretty much all I know."

Rose, the host, then follows up (the veteran that he is) by saying, "so you have to walk from your clubhouse behind the centerfield wall to the dugout. So it's like spring training?"

This is where the quote from Butler has been used, though slightly out of context.

"Basically. Like, we're coming in from the outfield, and it's probably gonna suck because--I've never been there and I don't know where the batting cages are. So like, if you have to pinch-hit, I don't know if you're gonna have to walk somewhere, or just come off the bench cold."

The A’s locker room in Sacramento will be in center field pic.twitter.com/l2ZgqKGUrM

— Chris Rose Sports (@ChrisRoseSports) October 8, 2024

In context, Butler is talking about the clubhouse being disconnected from the dugout and how that could impact the A's when they want to get a batter ready to pinch-hit, and that "sucking."

Out of context, there have been numerous headlines on the internet both for articles and social media posts that are running with the quote, "It's probably gonna suck," but framing it as though Butler is talking about playing in Sacramento more broadly.

The same thing happened to A's closer Mason Miller earlier in the season when he made an appearance, and shared someone else's joke about the lights not coming back on if they were to do some sort of "lights out" entrance for the All Star closer. The full quote was, "We talked about the lights. I don't think that's gonna happen. They said the lights might not come back on."

The quote that was taken and pushed around social media was instead that Miller said, "The lights might not come back on." Context is pretty important for these types of things, and it's important to get them correct.