Deion Sanders MLB Career Stats: A Closer Look at the Colorado Buffaloes Head Coach’s Time as a Baseball Star

Deion Sanders (Credit – Pinterest)

Present Colorado Buffaloes Head Coach, Deion Sanders has a rich history of baseball that many fans are unaware of. Before Playing 641 games in MLB, Deion gained fame with the NFL in 14 seasons-career. He is the only athlete to compete in both the Super Bowl and World Series so far.

Deion started his football career with the Falcons in 1989 and debuted with the New York Yankees on May 31, 1989. Thus became the only player to hit a homer and get a touchdown in the same week. Popularly known as “Prime Time” due to his dominance in both top-class sports simultaneously. “Football is my wife and baseball is my mistress”, Sanders responded on playing both sports at the same time.

Deion Sanders (Credit – Pinterest)

Currently, he is popular as “Prime Coach” after leading Jackson State University undefeated for the first time in the regular season and guided them to the Celebration Bawl two times consecutively. At the end of 2022, he joined the University of Colorado Boulder as head coach.

Which MLB teams did Deion Sanders play for?

Minor League Career

In his nine seasons of part-time baseball career, Deion mostly played as a left and center fielder. In 1985, he was first drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the sixth round but decided to not join them. Later on June 22, 1988, the Yankees signed the rookie Sanders in the 30th round, who played 28 games with an average batting of .284 as number 30 in the minor league.

Deion Sanders (Credit – Pinterest)

Deion opened for the Albany-Colonie Yankees in the 1989 Class AA Eastern League. A year later, he joined Toronto Blue Jays as a minor league player and played for the Syracuse SkyChiefs with a .252 batting average. He had to return to NFL for Washinton Redskins due to a contract loophole. Although Sanders eventually decided to end baseball career and entirely shifted to football, he continued to play till 2001.

Major League Career

Sanders played for four major teams in his baseball career. From 1989 to 2001, As per ESPN, he smashed 39 runs out of the park and completed diamonds 168 times with an average of .263 and .711 OPS. Sanders started with the Yankees and finished with the Reds. Even though he doesn’t choose to coach baseball after retirement, he is still considered one of the best to ever play the game.

New York Yankees (1989-90)

Deion debuted with the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League on May 31, 1989. In that week, he achieved the feat of hitting a homer and getting a touchdown in the same week. Mr. “Prime Time” debuted for the strip-lined jersey on May 22, 1990, against the Chicago White Sox. Sanders faced Bo Jackson, another fellow multi-sports athlete, on July 17 of the following year.

After the negotiation failed in mid-July, Yankees’ manager Gene Michael got ready to release Deion as he was focusing on football which hindered the baseball growth. With just.158 average and 3 HR in 57 games, Sanders left the Yankees.

Atlanta Braves (1991-94)

Signed by the Atlanta Braves in 1991, Deion showed his best version to the MLB fans. He worked with an NFL contract to allow him to play for both sports. In 1992 He stole 26 bases with 92 hits and 8 bombers in 303 at-bats with a .304 average in 97 games. Sanders played with the Reds in the 1992 World Series making him the only athlete to participate in the highest stages of the MLB and NFL.

Cincinnati Reds (1994-95)

On May 30, 1994, Deion Sanders was traded with Roberto Kelly and joined the Cincinnati Reds. He played 46 games with a .277 average and 19 stolen bases with red jersey. In that following year, Sanders hit 51 times but no homers and scored only 7 RBIs in 184 batting appearances. Later he reunited with the Reds after spending a season with the Giants.

San Fransisco Giants (1995)

In 1995, the Reds exchanged a three-man team with the San Fransisco Giants on July 21 and Deion was also part of the deal. After 52 games with 61 hard hits and 5 big goners, he got 18 RBIs with a .280 batting average, He rejoined the Reds in the following year.

Cincinnati Reds (1997, 2001)

In 1997, he finished just next to the top of the National League with 115 games. Before leaving for three years, he had one of the best career-best seasons with 23 RBI, 127 hits, and 56 stolen bases. He returned in 2001 but was soon released and decided to pack up his baseball career with just a .173 average.

Deion Sanders (Credit – fans share and YAHOO)

Despite a decade-long career and World Series appearances, many fans only know Deion Sanders as the NFL star. He’s fully invested his post-retirement career in football and fans are eager to see what this legend will unfold in the future.