Wednesday, February 16, 2000
Deion tries to make up for lost time
Sanders has his workcut out to make Reds
BY CHRIS HAFT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Deion Sanders
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SARASOTA, Fla. — Deion Sanders took an unaccustomed place in Arlington Stadium's grandstand last June to watch the Texas Rangers play Colorado.
It was Sanders' first major-league game as a spectator. It made him think about being a participant — again.
“I just sat out there looking and said, "My God, this is what I used to do,'” said Sanders, who was invited to that night's game by utilityman Lenny Harris, then with Colorado. “I started saying, "This is something else.' That's when I started really considering it.”
But if dreams have embraced Sanders and led him to the Reds' training camp, reality threatens to punch him in the gut. For perhaps the first time in his charmed athletic life, Sanders is an underdog.
Having signed a non-guaranteed, minor-league contract, Sanders has a few weeks to revive skills he hasn't used since 1997, when he last played baseball. He also must improve those skills, since Cincinnati already has a full contingent of five qualified outfielders. Moreover, Sanders must overcome leg injuries to regain his speed, his one clear edge over other baseball play ers.
Sanders knows this. That motivated the All-Pro cornerback to arrive here Tuesday, six days before position players are due to report.
Asked what he must do to make the Opening Day roster, Sanders said: “A lot of work. A lot of repetitions. The type of work I've never done before. That's why I'm here now. ... I wanted to come in here, rehab my knee and hit, hit, hit, hit, hit.”
General Manager Jim Bowden's faith in Sanders' ability prompted him to keep the two- sport star in the Reds' organization by signing him to minor-league contracts in 1998 and '99. Obviously, Bowden remains enamored of Sanders' potential.
“How can he make this team? He has to get on base and have that same blazing speed he's always had where he can steal second and third at will,” Bowden said. “If he's at the top of the order and you have (Barry) Larkin, (Ken) Griffey (Jr.), (Dante) Bichette and (Sean) Casey batting behind him, every time he gets on, it should be a run or a chance to be a run.”
If Sanders' bid to rejoin the Reds were a trip around the bases, the objectives at each checkpoint might look something like this:
• First base — health. Sanders needs his speed just to have a remote shot at succeeding. He said his left big toe, which required surgery last year, is fine. But he sprained his left ankle after a Christmas Eve game with the Dallas Cowboys and underwent arthroscopic surgery last month to repair a medial meniscus tear in his right knee.
“I'm really trying to get my whole body in shape, because my mind is wonderful,” said Sanders, who endured a divorce and even thoughts of suicide in recent years.
• Second base — rustiness. Hitting is difficult enough for professionals doing it regularly. Sanders, 32, must regain major-league precision and timing after more than a two-year layoff.
“It's been a while,” Sanders said. “But with the work I'm going to put forth, people are going to forget that.”
Almost no other athlete would have a chance of overcoming so much inactivity. But Sanders proved long ago he was special by playing both professional football and baseball.
“One of the things that excites me about Deion is that he has total focus on baseball right now,” Bowden said. “This is what he wants badly enough. Because of the type of makeup and character he has, I'll never bet against him competing.”
• Third base — improvement. For all his dynamic baserunning, Sanders was an indifferent performer even when he played baseball semi-regularly. His career on-base percentage was .324, about 50 points below an acceptable level. He hit .266 lifetime without power and was adequate but not exceptional defensively.
To win a job, Sanders must beat out one outfielder from a group including Dmitri Young, Michael Tucker and Alex Ochoa. “Those are all solid baseball players,” Bowden said. “He has his hands full. No question about it.”
Remarried and celebrating the birth of a week-old son, Shilo (Hebrew for “peace”) with his wife, Pilar, Sanders cited his 1997 Reds season and his newfound joy as sources of encouragement.
“If I can hit .270 and steal almost 60 bases in a matter of months the last time I played, with all hell breaking loose in my life and (being) suicidal at the same time, I feel like I can be 10 times better with peace in my life,” he said.
• Home — opportunity. Even if Sanders proves worthy of making the Opening Day roster, Young, Tucker or Ochoa would have to go. Speculation already has begun that an outfielder could be traded for pitching help.
Though this is out of Sanders' control, he said, “When the Lord gives you a vision, He gives you a provision also.”
For all the uncertainty about Sanders' immediate baseball future, he is assured of gaining a sense of closure.
“I'm not going to look back after this year and say, I would've, could've, should've done this in this game,” he said.
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