Sanders Makes Them Count but Doesn’t Know Numbers

Bob Finnigan of the Seattle Times wrote: “Deion Sanders is a two-sport marvel, drafted by the Yankees in baseball and Atlanta in the NFL, but he’s also a natural no-brainer.

“He came into the Yankee camp this spring and asked for uniform No. 3 (Babe Ruth’s), then No. 4 (Lou Gehrig’s), then No. 5 (Joe DiMaggio’s). He got No. 44 (Reggie Jackson) and changed that for No. 18.”

Said Jackson when he got a look at Sanders with all his jewelry: “He had on his Mr. T starter set.”

Add Sanders: Asked whether he would rather hit a home run in baseball or return a punt for a touchdown in football, he opted for the punt return.

“That counts for six points,” he said. “The homer only counts for one.”

For the record: In a list of famous athletes who excelled in other sports, which ran on Page 12 in Thursday’s editions, Jackie Robinson was short-changed, even though he headed the list.

It was noted that he participated in track and football at UCLA, but left out basketball.

In basketball, Robinson was a two-time scoring champion in the Pacific Coast Conference Southern Division. In 1939-40, he outscored USC All-American Ralph Vaughn to win the title.

Trivia time: Outside of the Big Ten, what conference has sent the most different schools out here for the Rose Bowl?

Objection sustained: When Houston slugger Glenn Davis asked that his name be deleted from a beer promotion, the Chicago Sun-Times came up with this item:

“A Honus Wagner baseball card in the Hall of Fame carries this caption: ‘Produced by Caporal Tobacco Co. in 1909-11, the card was recalled when Wagner, who did not smoke, objected to the use of his picture in connection with a tobacco product.’ ”

Would-you-believe-it Dept.: Quick now, who is the only member of the St. Louis Cardinals who has played in every game this year?

You got it, Pedro Guerrero.

Knee-deep! From Larry Guest of the Orlando Sentinel: “Months ago, top basketball officials were privately predicting Rick Pitino would make the jump from the Knicks back into college ball--if not at Kentucky, then at some other big-time campus. Reason: Rick’s ego, they say, was too large for the NBA, where the coach is not the big frog.”

That’s exhaustion: Detroit Manager Sparky Anderson told the Louisville Courier-Journal he was convinced he would have to take a rest this season when he could not stop his hands from shaking violently when he raised them over his head.

Anderson: “The first day home I slept 16 hours, the next day 12 and the next day 11. It wasn’t because I was just physically tired, but because I was mentally exhausted. I could not have gone another day. Not one more day. I was extremely worn out.”

Trivia answer: The Ivy League, with four schools--Brown, Pennsylvania, Harvard and Columbia.

Quotebook: Juan Samuel, on being traded from the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Mets: “I don’t know whether I won or lost, but I think I picked up about 10 games in the standings.”