Tom "Pee Wee" Butts, was born on August 24, 1918 (also listed on some records as 1919) to parents, Mollie and Asbury Butts. He was a Negro League baseball player from 1938-1955, playing as a shortstop for the Atlanta Black Crackers, Indianapolis ABCs, Baltimore Elite Giants, Birmingham Black Barons and the Memphis Red Sox. He played in 8 East-West Games. On December 5, 1944 he appears on a Pan American Airways passenger list (flight 25657) when he traveled to Caguas, Puerto Rico with an unnamed baseball club. In 1951, he left the Negro League and played in the Manitoba-Dakota League. He returned to the Negro League in 1953.

Thomas Butts married Dorothy Butts and had four children. He died on December 30, 1972 and is buried at South View Cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia.