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SANDERS DEFENDS HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH TEAMMATE HALL
By
PUBLISHED: July 1, 1990 at 4:00 a.m. | UPDATED: September 25, 2021 at 6:38 p.m.
CHICAGO — Deion Sanders angrily dismissed the current rumblings in the Yankees’ clubhouse that outfielder Mel Hall has been a bad influence on him.
Sanders, reached at his Atlanta home, said, “Mel, if anything, is a good influence. He keeps my spirits up.
“I mean, I’ve read that he and Claudell (Washington) are bad influences on me. C’mon. That has to come from some person in the clubhouse that doesn’t like one of the three of us.
“Mel and Claudell are probably the closest friends I have. You know, Mel talks a lot of trash, but he’s the nicest, kindest person there is. He’s the total opposite of what people think he is.”
There have also been rumors that the Yankees, concerned about Hall’s influence on Sanders, would trade the left-handed slugger.
Barry Axelrod, Sanders’ agent, seemed taken aback by the Yankees’ concern about Hall. In fact, Axelrod bluntly said, “I don’t think it’s any of their business. If he was hanging with an unsavory character outside of baseball, they may have a right to say it. They can say stay away from some drug dealer, but I don’t think they have any right when the guy is on this team.”
Hall, who displays a gruff exterior, was clearly stung by the recent criticism. He truly likes Sanders; in fact, Hall is the godfather to Sanders’ newborn daughter.
“People don’t realize I don’t see Deion off the field at night,” Hall said. “Deion doesn’t go out and drink. We talk on the phone during the day and sometimes we’ll go out and walk in the mall during the afternoon.
“And if people think I’m a bad influence, why don’t they ask the kid? And those people who think that, then I wish they would say it to my face. But they have no guts.
“I mean, I never advised him or told him to do anything I wouldn’t do.”
In fact, Hall has acknowledged that he constantly prodded Sanders to take extra hitting and outfield practice, but that Sanders refused.
“He tells me, ‘I don’t want to,”‘ Hall said. “What can I do. I can’t make him. I told him he should. That’s all I can do.
“It’s funny, because if he was hitting .350, would I be a bad influence then? It just seems that when anyone mentions Deion, my name always comes up. Yes, I’m probably closer to him and his family than a lot of guys, but it’s just a friendship.”
When asked if a trade would break up that friendship, Hall said, “I’ll be his friend forever. When this game is over and I’m 55 or 60, I’ll still be his friend.”
