Clip: Deion Sanders vs. Carlton Fisk, 33 Years Ago Today

The Andy Poland show on ESPN 630 the sports capital so got Tony coming up at 11 o'clock And I'm sure he'll be talking plenty about Brooks Kepka and winning the PGA and maybe have some more thoughts on Jim Brown Spent a lot of time on him today But I think in terms of of impact not just in in sports, but impact on the world Some good some bad Jim Brown covered it all and died over the weekend or died going into the weekend at the age of 87 33 years ago today at Yankee Stadium It was the Yankees taking on the Chicago White Sox and behind the plate was the most grizzled of grizzly veterans for the White Sox Carlton Fisk Who had started his career in the 1960s for the Boston Red Sox and then had gone to the Chicago White Sox Had the most famous well not the most famous but certainly in the conversation among the most famous home runs in World Series history As he waved it fair in 1975 to send it to a game seven against the Cincinnati Reds Which the Reds won it would be a long long time before the Red Sox would ever win a World Series and I don't think called Yeah, Carlton Fisk never made it back because the White Sox didn't do it when he was there But he stayed behind the plate until he was 42 years old 42 years old still catching For the White Sox and the Yankees in 90 were a terrible team I mean they were really a bad bad team and To pump up the gate a little bit and you know, maybe maybe find somebody who could help them They they signed Dion Sanders now Dion was playing for the Falcons. They'd been drafted by them 1989 the year before he's making a million dollars a year as one of the top picks and the Yankees were paying him a hundred thousand dollars a year But you know George Steinbrenner was a football guy. He liked the whole, you know flashiness of prime and all that and So he hey had him in the lineup as his lead-off hitter and you know Fisk had paid his dues Getting his way through the minors four years of writing the buses and things like that Whereas Dion they hardly played in the minors 17 games of rookie ball six games in a ball five and triple A before he comes to the Yankees And he's hitting 143. I mean, what's what's he doing in there and So as the story goes and this is this is the most We told part of the story and you can decide for yourself whether it's true or not is Dion came to the plate And he drew a dollar sign in the dirt and Fisk saw that and wigged out on him and went knows to knows with him The bench is empty. There wasn't a fight or anything like that But but there was definitely a dust up between the two of them because you know Fisk didn't roll like that. So years later and and as it turned out the Yankees won the game The the White Sox lost five two not necessarily because what Dion did but the Yankees did win that game But years later Carlton Fisk appearing on a radio show with the late-grade Joe Morgan of the Cincinnati Reds All the Famer himself talked about the incident and this is this is this story of what happened on this day 33 years ago today, May 22nd, 1990 Well, I'll have to leave out all the expletives, you know I'll have to leave those out But as you and I know that the game is is is a game of integrity a game of honor I think just like the game of golf and you respect what what you're doing and I didn't think Dion Sanders had much respect for The game the players that he's playing with the team he was playing for or the team with organizations playing against And he showed it when he used to come up with the plate, you know I'll see if I can give you a little condensed version of what happened and keep it as nice as possible You know, I don't know if anybody realizes but he'd come up to the plate and sum up the plate like he owned the stadium And he used to draw a dollar sign in the dirt at home plate And you know a second time he did the first time I went home and this guy just crazy He's driving me crazy already, you know, because he's knee on D on the blank thing So he draws a dollar sign in the dirt, so So then he hits a little pop up to the infield and he just stands here like oh, how did you I don't need to run this out because I'm knee on Then so it was yelling at him. I said run the ball out and he said huh what? I said run the ball out and he never makes it to first base He just takes the right and goes into the dugout and I said I don't know if anybody's that I have ever played against Disrespected the game like he appears to be doing just with his body language and his attitude and Somebody deserves his and he's not even a baseball player, but somebody deserves himself So he comes up again and he draws a dollar sign the dirt again, and you know what he says Joe He says hey, man the days of slavery are over Well, I went what you know I can't say what I said I stood up and I walked up on him face-to-face And I said I don't care with your black or blue or pink or red There's a right way and I'm wrong what if I this game and you're playing it wrong And you know something I'm an old guy and it offends guys like me, so if you don't start playing this game right I'm gonna kick your ass right here well Dion has a little bit different version of what happened on this day in 1990 Go to this life first ball, you know you lied I do you want to tell it here or do you want to? Never I would never disrespect the game. You know I respect why I'm a people in the game So for him to lie and said I drew a dollar sign in the dirt. That was a lie I drew I grew up in inner city. I played baseball We didn't like help chalk batting boxes So I used to always draw half a circle and it was like a B in the middle where I put my back foot and up to my strike point That's what I always drew in the batter's box every time I went up my whole career college owned everywhere and You know he said I was doing a dollar side and he he yapped off at me And you know back then out of here Darren I Wasn't the historical type of guy. I didn't know anything about the history of the game and the respect level of the game I just know at that time if you challenge me. I was gonna challenge you if you act like you's gonna put your hands on me I'm gonna put my hands on you first that was the ignorant young friend and that's just pretty much I was and he lied to the media said that I drew a dollar sign in the dirt No, it is a lie. No, you decide for yourself whether you believe fisk or you believe Dion I'll say this and I don't you know no Dion at all But I did some radio work with Rob Dibble when we were both at ESPN about 20 years ago and dibble said Dion when they played together with the Reds was a great great teammate and he said that the Dion that you saw it in Public was a lot different than the Dion who was in the locker room And he was one of the most well liked and respected guys on the team They played with the Reds he played with the Braves and you know had another incident in Atlanta where he didn't like what Tim McConver was saying about him So he dumped the bucket of water on McConver's head there there've been some some things with Dion, but guys who played with him now fist didn't play with him played against him but guys who played with him said they Did respect Dion Sanders and you would have to respect him as an athlete if nothing else was he as good as Bo Jackson in both sports I don't know, but he was he was close You know, there's there's if Bo Jackson had stayed healthy It's entirely possible though how he would have kept up the pace I don't know but it's possible he could have been a Hall of Famer in two sports He's he was the all-star MVP in baseball and then played in the Pro Bowl in the same year But Dion to play two sports as well as he did and he he tried to use this as leverage when Marty shot in Heimer came in to coach the Redskins remember he played here in Under north Turner, nor have got fired Marty came in Dion knew he didn't want to play for Marty So he said I don't trust him as far as I can throw him and signed a baseball contract And that kind of screwed everything up for the salary cap not that Marty was gonna keep him anyway But yeah, those things happen But in terms of what I've heard about him as a baseball teammate He was a very good guy as what he did with Carlton Fisk whether he drew the dollar sign in the dirt or not you can you can make your own decision about that Fisk says he did Dion says he didn't but the two of them butted heads on this day in