With two-sport star Deion Sanders on their team, the Syracuse SkyChiefs were 14-13 and dropped two games in the International League standings.

But while Sanders made no difference on the field during his month-long stay, he made a tremendous difference off it. Sanders left a favorable impression on those he came in contact with - teammates, club officials and fans.

"When he said goodbye, he gave me a big hug and said, 'God bless you,' " SkyChiefs manager Omar Malave said. "But you know what I say? God bless him."

Sanders, who batted .252 with one home run, six runs batted in and five stolen bases in 25 games, left the SkyChiefs after Thursday's game against the Toledo Mud Hens at P&C Stadium. The next day, Sanders retired from football as part of an agreement with his most recent NFL team, the Washington Redskins.

If Sanders were to retire from baseball as well, that means he would have played his last game as a professional athlete here. And he would have gone out with a bang, because he hit his home run in the sixth inning of Thursday's game.

"That's him. That's so him," Toledo manager Bruce Fields said. "It's fitting. It could only happen for Deion. He's got a flair for the dramatic."

Perhaps Sanders retains a flair for drama, but his showboating days of "Neon Deion" and "Prime Time" are over. The Sanders that played in Syracuse was a humble, thoughtful man who read the Bible with his teammates, bought dinner for a SkyChiefs' intern and signed autographs for a young fan in Rochester who was hit with a ball during batting practice.

"You hear so much about him, see him on TV with the Cowboys and 49ers, and you get a certain impression," SkyChiefs catcher Joe Lawrence said. "But he's nothing like that. He rides the bus with us, talks with us. He's a regular guy."

Here's a look at the people Sanders touched during his stay in Syracuse:

Teammates

Tired of excessive partying, womanizing and the whole "Prime Time" scene, Sanders turned to God and started studying the Bible about four years ago. Sanders said he was called to Syracuse by God so he could spread the word of the Bible to a new set of people.

"I've had some intimate conversations

with a lot of the guys," Sanders said after Thursday's game. "Not just the players. We're talking about the equipment guys, everybody. Intimate conversations.

"I came here to add to lives," he continued. "The game of baseball was something that I do while I'm going where the Lord is calling me."

Sanders' message to his teammates was simple: Baseball is a great job, but it's going to end one day. A relationship with God lasts a lifetime.

It's the same message SkyChiefs pitcher John Frascatore has spoken to his teammates all season.

"The guys I couldn't reach, then Deion was here for that," Frascatore said. "He had a lot of intimate talks and relationships with guys on the same basis, he just could reach them in a different way."

During an early July road trip to Columbus, Sanders took several teammates to a church to meet a pastor Sanders has known since the late 1980s. They relaxed, enjoyed a meal and spent the day talking about God.

"The time he spent here, I learned a lot more about the Lord," said Syracuse outfielder Vernon Wells, who went with Sanders to the Columbus church. "I just try to stay positive about everything because there's more to life than just baseball."

Though serious when talking about God, Sanders also had fun with his teammates and tried hard to fit in. He gave Ryan Freel the nickname "Sugar Freel," and called Cole Liniak "Cole Train" after Liniak tackled a fan in Ottawa who was running out to left field toward Sanders.

To thank Liniak, Sanders let Liniak ride with him on Sanders' custom-made bus on the 5½-hour trip from Pawtucket to Syracuse July 23. It was the only time Sanders rode on his own bus; he rode the team bus the other times, while his family used the Sanders' bus.

"If I came here for myself, I probably would think about having to go to every city and people running out on the field and the (long) bus rides," Sanders said. "But I didn't come here for myself. I've established some relationships that will last forever."

Through it all, the SkyChiefs remained in awe of the only athlete to play in the World Series and the Super Bowl. Some players asked Chuck Wainwright, the SkyChiefs' team photographer, to take a picture of them with Sanders.

When it became obvious Sanders was leaving after Thursday's game, several players asked Sanders to autograph baseballs and footballs.

"It's like the guys at the big-league All-Star Game, the young guys like A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) and (Derek) Jeter and all those guys, sitting there playing with Cal Ripken," said SkyChiefs infielder Orlando Hudson. "I know their feeling. I'm sitting besides Deion Sanders, a Hall of Fame football player for sure."

SkyChiefs employees

Jody Pucello, who runs the SkyChiefs' clubhouse at P&C, found out right away that Sanders was not going to play the part of prima donna superstar. On Sanders' first day in Syracuse, Pucello asked Sanders what uniform number he wanted.

"What do you want me to wear?" Sanders said.

Since No. 2, Sanders' baseball number, and No. 21, his football number, were taken, Pucello suggested No. 12. Sanders smiled and took the number.

"A guy who's that good in football, with nothing left to prove, and he's here humbling himself playing another man's sport, that shows a lot," Pucello said. "He's playing baseball because he wants to, not for the money."

During spring training, Pucello ran the visitor's clubhouse at the Toronto Blue Jays' home stadium. When the Cincinnati Reds and Sanders played Toronto, Pucello asked Sanders to autograph an old Sports Illustrated with Sanders on the cover. Pucello told Sanders he wanted to display the magazine in his sports bar, Pooch's, on Milton Avenue in Solvay.

Sanders signed the magazine, and he remembered Pucello when he got to Syracuse. Before he left the SkyChiefs, Sanders gave Pucello an autographed football and game-worn shoes for the bar, and he promised to send Pucello a Dallas Cowboys jersey and helmet because Pucello had said a lot of Cowboys fans go to the bar.

H.J. Refici, the team's director of operations, and SkyChiefs intern Jim LaPorte drove Sanders every night from P&C to his apartment at Homewood Suites in Liverpool. Sanders always has been LaPorte's favorite athlete, and after one day game Sanders took LaPorte to dinner at Red Lobster.

Sanders did not get a chance to say goodbye to Refici. But when he made a pit stop at P&C before leaving Syracuse for good Friday afternoon, Sanders made it a point to find Refici and thank him.

"I had a totally different image of him as this flashy guy," Refici said. "But he was nothing like that. He was a great guy. Very human."

Reporters

When Sanders played in the International League in the early 1990s, he told one IL beat writer, "I don't talk to minor-league writers."

But this time around, Sanders was cooperative and friendly. When a Rochester newspaper printed an item about Sanders' favorite rap group, Sanders quietly pulled the writer aside to tell him he no longer listens to that group because he disagrees with the lyrics.

The only time Sanders didn't make himself available, he was ripped. That was the first day of a two-game series in Ottawa, and the next day a columnist for the Ottawa Sun opened his column with, "Prime Time had no time for the Ottawa media last night."

In Syracuse, manager Malave and the players were partly amused, partly annoyed by the extra media attention the SkyChiefs received during Sanders' stay. They wondered where all the media members were before Sanders' arrival, but they also realized the extra TV cameras and microphones would better prepare them for life in the big leagues.

"At times it can be a distraction because the media is everywhere," Malave said. "But I'll tell you something, it was good practice for me."

The fans

As one of the more famous and charismatic athletes in sports, Sanders has developed a rock star-like following. Some fans go a little too far.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning of the July 18 game at Ottawa, a fan bolted from the stands and headed toward left field, toward Sanders. While Sanders started moving toward center field, Liniak tackled the fan around the neck and held him down until security arrived.

After the game, Sanders said he had thoughts of tennis star Monica Seles being stabbed by a fan.

"You don't know the motives of some people," Sanders told The Associated Press.

In Syracuse after a night game in mid-July, a car trailed the van Refici and LaPorte were using to take Sanders to his apartment. Refici and LaPorte tried to ditch the car, but they couldn't shake it until they parked behind a sheriff's car and the other car sped away.

And one day in Syracuse, a car followed Sanders and his family all day. No wonder Sanders used a fake name - I.M. Blessed - when he checked into hotels during SkyChiefs road trips.

But on the whole, fans in Syracuse and the cities where the SkyChiefs played reacted well to Sanders. In Syracuse, the average attendance with Sanders on the team jumped from 5,308 to 7,607, but the start of summer vacation for school children and several popular promotions may have contributed more to the surge.

In Rochester, where the Red Wings sold glow necklaces for $2 apiece to welcome "Neon Deion," nearly 20,000 fans came out for two games against Syracuse. Before the first game, Sanders took onto the field a 9-year-old boy who was hit in the mouth with a ball during batting practice. Sanders also autographed a baseball and a Dallas Cowboys mini helmet for the boy.

On July 4 at P&C Stadium, Sanders gave a bat to a woman sitting along the left-field line. The woman had been waving a sign that read, "Deion, God Loves You, So Do We."

Apparently, the feeling was mutual.

"I've had a wonderful time here, man," Sanders said.