MLB: Deion Sanders Has Another Shot at the Record Books

When Deion Sanders reports to the Cincinnati Reds' training camp, he will clearly be doing it to call attention to himself. But even he does not know that he will be on the verge of setting another sports record. Sanders could set the standard for a two-sport disappointment.

Rutherford Guinness, the head of the sports index of the Guinness Book of World Records, will spend much of the spring watching Sanders to see if he qualifies. "Deion is in a very unique position," explained Mr. Guinness. "His 2000 season with the Washington Redskins was remarkably disappointing, but he still has the star power to have high expectations in baseball, meaning we are in a very special position to see yet another remarkable disappointment."

Sanders' signing with the Redskins did bring enormous confidence to the team's secondary, but when the season started, teams frequently burned Sanders for both long and short gains. The highlight of his disappointing season occurred when he performed an on-field dance before a punt, and the muffed the punt, turning the ball over to the Dallas Cowboys in a humiliating loss on Monday Night Football. Guinness remembers it with relish. "I have seen a lot of disappointing players and a lot of disappointing performances, but you have to go back to Ryan Leaf's 1-for-15 game in 1998 to find a good comparison."

As for baseball, Guinness feels that there is a lot of room for disappointment. "Just as in football, where his ego did not quite allow him to understand his loss of speed, he may try to steal bases in the same manner as in the past, but without the success," said the sports expert. The only question is how people expect him to field and bat. "He is not a very good batter, and he is an average fielder. This is why I have to go to the games and judge, first, what the fans and his team expect, and second, how large a disappointment there is."

And what if Deion fails to disappoint? "I've given that some thought," mulls Guinness. "I may try to get Patrick Ewing to take up football."