INDIANAPOLIS — Prime Time had no time to talk.

        Deion Sanders arrived at Victory Field with a .205 batting average and a business-only approach to his baseball comeback with the Triple-A Louisville RiverBats. The team was set to begin a four-game International League series against the Indianapolis Indians in a showdown of the West Division's top two teams.

        But the normally flamboyant and outspoken outfielder, who last played in the majors in 1997 for Cincinnati, declined interview requests, saying only, “I'm chillin.'”

        Sanders, 32, signed a minor-league deal with the Reds in January and is on a medical rehabilitation assignment after offseason ankle and knee surgeries. He's the RiverBats' starting center fielder and left-handed leadoff hitter.

        Last November, he played across West Street at the RCA Dome when his Dallas Cowboys took on the Indianapolis Colts.

        In football, he's an eight-time Pro Bowl defensive back and one of the NFL's greatest kick returners. But in baseball, he's still trying to find his swing. In his first 19 games this season, he had eight steals and three homers but was 16-of-78 at the plate with five strikeouts.

        Three years ago, he stole 56 bases for the Reds. His best season was in 1992, when he hit .304 with 26 steals in 97 games with the Atlanta Braves.

        “He's a great guy and a real positive influence,” said RiverBats outfielder and former Indian Mike Frank. “He's out here working as hard as everybody else and we're all pulling for him.

        “He still flies. If he's lost a step, I don't know where it is. I wish I could lose a step and still run like that,” Frank told the Indianapolis Star.

        RiverBats coaches timed Sanders at 3.7 seconds from home plate to first base on a bunt.

        “I think he'll be fine,” Louisville manager Dave Miley said. “Timing is the one thing he knew, coming in, was probably going to take awhile. He plays hard and goes about it just like you watch him on TV playing football.”

        A few minutes after the team bus arrived Thursday, Sanders jogged just inside the padded interior walls of Victory Field, then ran the stadium steps. He took batting practice and sent a few deep flies to right field, but none over the fence.

        After shagging flies, he trotted to the dugout and ignored a throng of young fans clamoring for autographs.

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Reds 3, Cardinals 2 Box, runs Going, going, still going ... Reds pitchers pull out the stop Patient Bowden not itching to deal No 'Prime Time' in Triple-A

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