I REMEMBER WHEN ....

.... DEION SANDERS was arrested here for conduct unbecoming. Actually, while playing for  AAA 

International League’s Columbus  at Parker Field three days before his 22d birthday in August of 

1989, he was charged with assaulting two fans. Released on $5,000 bond, Sanders avoided trial by 

agreeing to pay an undisclosed sum, the money going to create an area for handicapped people near 

the third base dugout.

 The two-sport standout at Florida State, drafted No. 5 overall by the NFL Atlanta Falcons a few months earlier, denied punches were thrown during an altercation under the stands although an usher reportedly was hit.

 Sanders apparently was upset over treatment of his first-wife-to-be Carolyn Chambers, who 

allegedly had been heckled during an exchange with spectators during the game won by the 

Richmond Braves, 14-6. The incident happened after Sanders, going 0-for-4, was removed for a 

pinch-hitter in the ninth inning. R-Braves’ security officials said he quickly changed clothes then 

went to a concourse to confront the hecklers. 

Columbus was the top farm team of the Yankees, and  manager Bucky Dent said Sanders would be 

fined or suspended. It was the second time in less than a year that the always-controversial Sanders, 

now headline-grabbing football coach at the University of Colorado, had been arrested. 

For creating a ruckus at a Ft. Myers, Fla., gift shop on Christmas Eve, he was convicted of two 

charges of battery and one charge of disorderly conduct ... was fined $800 and sentenced to six 

months probation. 

 The only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and World Series, the 6-0, 183 pound defensive 

back/outfielder played 14 years in the NFL and parts of nine seasons in MLB. In 1991 he signed with 

the Atlanta Braves and was sent here, saying, “Nobody comes to see the Richmond Braves. I want to 

be on TBS [A-Braves cable channel], or whatever it is … Richmond is not my favorite place, but I 

can go there and be happy.” 

 Why not? Sanders was paid $650,000 to play 29 games for the R-Braves (batting .262) and 54 in 

Atlanta (.191) before reporting to the NFL Falcons Aug. 1.

.... THE WASHINGTON football team got rid of QB Taylor Heinicke, and hardly anybody seemed to 

care. Now Sam Howell is being asked to carry a team that is, at best, mediocre. Come on! 

Howell, a fifth-round 2022 draftee (144 overall), was both good and bad Sunday in a game won by 

the defense 20-16 over underdog Arizona … which turned a fumble by Howell into its ontouchdown.  

In the third quarter, the Cardinals showed the Commanders (and Howell) the ultimate disrespect, 

accepting a holding penalty despite a fourth-down punting situation. Howell was sacked on the 

ensuing snap. 

 .... COACHES, AS WELL AS student(yuk!)-athletes, spoke proper English. Which Commonwealth 

of Virginia leader of young men said recently, “He must have ran the wrong route.”? Hint: It was 

halftime, and his team had overcome a 17-point deficit in fewer than six minutes to tie the score. 

.... THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER of record didn’t allow plural verbs with singular nouns, which has 

become commonplace just about everywhere as “dumbing down” has taken over more than just journalism. 

....  WHENEVER WE PICKED Notre Dame to lose, as sure as God made little green apples Frank 

Carpin would call to question our bias towards his alma mater. He was serious, yet it was all in great 

fun, too. 

 The left-hander, who still holds the school record for most strikeouts in a game (19), spent two years 

in MLB with the Pirates (1965) and Astros (1966) after being signed originally by the Yankees. He 

will be on hand October 27 in South Bend when the Irish celebrate a baseball legacy weekend … 

“when they invite all the alumni who played in the big leagues.” Like Shaun Fitzmaurice, 81, who 

lives in Richmond and likewise plans to attend. 

....  HE PLAYED FOR the Richmond Braves. An outfielder, Fitzmaurice spent most of his career in 

the minor leagues but nevertheless appeared in nine games for the Mets in 1966. High on his list of 

memories during that short stay late in the season, he recalled the other day, was being used as a 

pinch-runner against the Giants on the road … and scoring the go-ahead run. 

 “I could run,” Fitzmaurice said. “I didn’t run track in high school but I did at Notre Dame and ran 

the 60 [yard dash] two-tenths of a second off the world’s record. Anyway, I stole second ,,, and I 

don’t remember the name but whoever it was hit a one-hop shot to the left fielder, and they waved 

me around.

 “As I’m coming to home plate, the catcher [Tom] Haller was nonchalanting [sic] the whole thing … 

but all of a sudden I could pick up the ball in his eyes, and I gave him my best shot … jarred the ball 

away and was safe. The next day the [San Francisco] paper that folds like a book had me in a couple 

of sequence pictures on the back page: ‘LUCK OF THE IRISH.’”

....  CARPIN AND FORMER University of Richmond athletic director Chuck Boone joined yours 

truly for a round of captain’s-choice golf at the Federal Club to benefit the Virginia State Sports Hall of Fame. This was shortly after the course designed by Arnold Palmer opened in 2007. Johnny Newman was supposed to be our fourth but the ex-UR basketball great must have known something because, wisely, he didn’t appear. 

 Carpin, 85, a native Richmonder who attended Benedictine and now spends most of his time at 

Pauley’s Island, S.C., reports he can’t toss a baseball any more “because I can’t throw overhand … 

but I can still play golf.” And he does, a lot of it. “I shot my age a couple of times last year,” Carpin 

said. “And, I was in the foursome that won the alumni golf championship last year.” 

....  AS AN UNDERGRADUATE at UR, Boone was a catcher for legendary coach Mac Pitt. The 

Spiders played at what is now Robins Stadium, and I would sit with Coach Pitt and learn more about 

baseball in one afternoon than most people would get in a lifetime. 

 It quickly became apparent that he absolutely detested – OK, hated – his Spiders taking a called 

strike. “GET THAT BAT OFF YOUR SHOULDER!!” he would holler, over and over and over 

again. 

 Until next time ...