By Hal McCoy
Dayton Daily News

FORT MYERS, Fla. | The stage paint has been peeled away and left in the cosmetics case. The gold and diamonds that added 10 pounds to his Cheetah-thin 195-pound body are all but gone.

All that remains is a gold cross with diamond chips, emblematic of the faith he found after he tried to take his own life by driving his Mercedes into a ditch off Interstate 75 in Northern Kentucky, his reaction to a failing marriage when he last played for the Cincinnati Reds in 1997.

"Neon" Deion and "Prime Time" Sanders no longer exist. It is just Deion Sanders, or maybe Brother Deion Sanders.

The scaled-down Sanders is a polite, quiet human being at peace with himself and the world. What remains is a personable guy with amazing athletic skills.

People who remember the self-promoting, fast-talking, attention-grabbing, womanizing, opponent-taunting flashiness still boo at the drop of his name. They haven't taken time to learn the new, improved Deion Sanders.

"Deion Sanders is a great guy, one of the nicest people you'll ever meet," Cincinnati Reds special assistant Gary Hughes said. "I love the guy. He is one of my favorite people."

The 33-year-old Deion Luwynn Sanders once recorded a rap song with lyrics that told us it "must be the money." Now it is about Sanders answering his telephone calls with, "God bless you."

Wine, women, money and fame didn't get it for him, although he checked them all out. Testifying in front of a congregation and leading the team in prayer at baseball chapel get it. Bass fishingfrom out of the boat he tows behind his truck gets it.

Sanders is residing in a Sarasota hotel one block from the Sarasota Kennel Club, a dog-racing facility. With time on his hands one night, Sanders wandered into the track to see something he had never seen. He was fascinated, immediately falling in love with the athleticism of the racing greyhounds. Sanders doesn't wager, he just watches wide-eyed.

Subconsciously, the greyhounds and their pencil-thin legs, which Sanders also has, remind Sanders of himself.

One night recently, there was a rarity at the track. A greyhound caught the stuffed-rabbit lure the dogs chase. That, too, must remind Sanders of himself. He, too, is a greyhound chasing a lure: another shot at big-league baseball. And while many say he won't catch the rabbit, Sanders can point to that dog and say, "That's me."

In 12 exhibition games, Sanders is hitting .267, flashing his greyhound speed by beating out three bunts, stealing four bases in four attempts and running out a triple at world-class speed.

"I came here with one thing in mind and we're getting there," Sanders said. "We are getting there. Nothing is in my hands, it is in their hands, but I've made a case to let them know I can play every day and be very successful."

Why Cincinnati? Sanders has worn major-league baseball uniforms for the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants in between establishing himself as arguably the NFL's all-time best pass defender. When he came back to Cincinnati in 1997 for his second tenure, he said that's the only baseball team for which he would play. And he maintains that stance.

"People won't believe this statement, but I love anonymity . . . I love that," he said. "I can't wait for the day I can go to the mall and shop with my kids, take them to the playgrounds. Cincinnati gives me a bit of that, for some strange reason.

"But the most profound reason is that (this) is where I gave my life to the Lord, where I came to know Christ, so that's one reason Cincinnati always will be dear to me."

Sanders is as serious as the Bible when he says he wants to make it with the Reds, but it doesn't interfere with his humanitarian demeanor. The Reds played Saturday against the Boston Red Sox in Fort Myers, his hometown, but he wasn't with the team. He was in Tampa all day doing charity work, as was another player with a mixed public personna, Boston's Carl Everett.

"I was serving the Lord with gladness," Sanders said Sunday as he dressed in the visitor's clubhouse at the Lee County Sports Complex before a game against the Minnesota Twins. "I had to meet a need. There were a lot of needs that needed to be met. And they were met. We fed the children, we provided haircuts, we provided shoes, not just for children, but entire needy families. We provided physicals and health care and they had playground activities for the children. So, it was just a whole great day, man."

On Sunday, Sanders was back in a baseball uniform, trying to fill what is not just his personal dream, but a need.