By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Even Deion Sanders could not believe it. Not his home run. Not his 3-for-3 night after nearly four years out of baseball. No, it was the cheers that stunned him.
“I've never gotten an ovation like that,” Sanders said after the Reds' 7-6 win over Los Angeles Tuesday. “I was really touched. Teary.”
The cheers and the standing ovation came in the second inning, after Sanders' three-run homer. The homer, a line-drive over the right-field wall, came on just the second pitch Sanders saw in the game. He lined the first pitch he saw for a single in the first inning.
The crowd of 30,548 — including 2,800 walkups and 9,075 Kid Glove attendees — went nuts before the homer landed. Fans stayed on their feet until Sanders came out for a curtain call. How did it feel?
“I wish my vocabulary was equipped to tell you,” Sanders said.
“I got goosebumps,” teammate Dmitri Young said. “It was exciting. He did exactly what he set out to.”
Sanders' line in his first major-league game in 1,364 days: home run, two singles, sacrifice bunt, two runs, three RBI and a stolen base.
The crowd cheered loudly when Sanders dug in for the first time, his pants legs pulled up to the bottom of his knees to show off his bright red socks. Dodgers right-hander Eric Gagne left his first pitch over the plate, and Sanders lined it sharply to center, then pointed to the sky as a religious gesture after rounding first.
Two runners were aboard when Sanders came up again in the second. Gagne got a fastball up, and Sanders pulled it over the wall in right field, pumping his right arm in celebration once he realized it was a homer, then raising both arms to the sky as he jumped on home plate.
The home run was a surprise, with Sanders not known for his power.
“Trust me, I wasn't trying to hit a home run,” he said. “That's why I bunted the next time up. I didn't want to change my swing.”
The bunt was perfect. He easily beat it out for a hit. His fourth time up, Sanders sacrificed Barry Larkin to second. Larkin went on to score the winning run.
Sanders, 33, made the game look easy.
“It doesn't surprise me at all,” Reds manager Bob Boone said. “God gave Deion something he left off my plate.”
“That's a fairly incredible athlete you're talking about,” Dodgers manager Jim Tracy said.
Sanders was in the lineup because Sean Casey was out with a bruised foot. Young moved from left field to replace Casey at first base.
“I see (Sanders) as an extra outfielder,” Boone said. “We'll see.”
Sanders said he'll accept a backup role.
“If that's what's dealt to me,” he said, “I'm not going to bicker. But I plan to play in a manner that that won't happen.”
When Ken Griffey Jr. returns from the disabled list, Sanders would seem to be fifth on the outfield depth chart.
“Deion's a case where you don't bet on stats and scouting reports,” Reds general manager Jim Bowden said. “You bet on human beings, and he's a human being to bet on.”
Sanders' minor-league stats look pretty convincing now. He was hitting .459 with four doubles, five triples and six stolen bases in 19 games at Triple-A Louisville.
The Reds signed Sanders to a $500,000 contract with no incentives.
“It's low-risk, high-reward for us,” Bowden said.
Sanders attempted a comeback last year. He struggled with ankle and knee injuries until he aborted the comeback in June. He was hitting .200 at Louisville at the time.
The difference, he said, is that he's healthy this year. And his mind is on baseball, not football.
Sanders, a defensive back, is still under contract with the Washington Redskins. He would not discuss football Tuesday, or even whether he would return to the NFL.
“Trust me,” he said. “I've got a plan. I know what I'm going to do. You (media) can keep guessing.”
Sanders said his drive to be successful in baseball brought him back.
“It's a chapter in my life that's unclosed,” he said. “I don't want to talk about that other sport, but I've had a good run. There's not much left for me to do.
“(In baseball), there's so much left for me to accomplish.”
After Tuesday, there is a little less.