Safe! Or so umpire Randy Marsh signaled, arms and legs spread like a jumping jack.

A grimacing Sid Bream looked up as he slid by, having no idea then — or now — if he was safe.

"I have pictures up here that tell me I was, from different angles," said Bream, 46, who lives outside of Pittsburgh. "But at the same time, some people said from what they saw, maybe I wasn't."

Bream would know better than lunging Pirates catcher Mike LaValliere, but he doesn't. "I couldn't feel the tag," Bream said. Riding a "bent four" slide, he was busy feeling the rush of dirt, plate and gravity — both of the atmosphere and the situation.

The call, which sent the Braves to the 1992 World Series, is not widely disputed, at least not outside greater Pittsburgh. But by bringing it up, Bream emphasized how close it was and how much had to go right.

With two outs, he took off on contact. Stan Belinda hadn't held him, focusing on batter Francisco Cabrera and banking on Bobby Cox's decision not to pinch run for a hobbled Bream. Barry Bonds' throw was just up the first-base line.

"Everything was in my advantage, and it was still that close," Bream said. "I'm just glad I got the safe signal. Bobby would have had a lot of questions to answer about why he kept me out there. And I could have gone from hero to goat in a heartbeat."

That moment launched the Braves to new heights. "You were the little snowball that started rolling," Bream said. But in 15 years since for Bream, it has meant something more.

"That play gave me a platform to talk about being a Christian," said Bream, who has reached thousands as a motivational speaker.