It’s The ‘Robinson Look’ Team To Wear Short Sleeves, Supporting Sanders’ Tribute

Deion Sanders hopes everyone is satisfied - and Jackie Robinson is honored - by the Cincinnati Reds’ new road look.

Rather than force Sanders to drop his personal tribute to Robinson, the Reds decided to change their road uniforms to conform with Sanders’ short-sleeve look.

The center fielder drew the National League’s wrath this week by shortening the sleeves on his road jersey so he could look more like Robinson. His teammates agreed to adopt the look, conforming with league rules that everyone have the same sleeve length.

“It’s an issue that shouldn’t be an issue,” Sanders said Friday, after taking batting practice before a game against Florida. “We’re not going to blow it out of proportion. We’ve all gotten together as a team. We’re going to rectify it the best way we can.

“One thing we don’t want to do is make it out to be a race issue. I’m just trying to pay a tribute to him.”

Sanders saw a picture of Robinson on a cereal box in spring training and decided to pull up his pants legs and wear his uniform sleeves short to emulate him.

When N.L. senior vice president Katy Feeney saw the shortened sleeves this week, she warned the club it would be fined for an improper uniform.

Sanders’ teammates urged general manager Jim Bowden to adopt the short-sleeve look for road uniforms, which would satisfy the league.

The sleeve change issue broke out at the start of a season honoring Robinson, who broke baseball’s color barrier 50 years ago. Sanders chose the personal tribute because he thinks it’s an honor to dress the way someone else does.

All major league teams are wearing patches on their sleeves to honor Robinson.