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Jordan: the baseball player | |
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His basketball was swapped for something smaller
As a youngster Jordan came close to taking his little-league baseball team to the national finals as a pitcher. Then in 1993 after winning his third successive NBA basketball title with the Chicago Bulls he fell in love with baseball again. Following the murder of his father and a host of other personal problems, Michael hung up his basketball boots and went searching for a new challenge. He had a successful trial with the Chicago White Sox and was farmed out to one of their affiliate teams, the Birmingham Barons.
His arrival attracted plenty of interest. His first game attracted an amazing 130 members of the world's press and a bumper 10,359 crowd. Jordan was employed as an outfielder and made his debut in April 1994. He was massive news, even though if it took him three months to hit his first home run. Attendance records were smashed with almost half a million people attending the Barons' Hoover-Met stadium in the summer of 1994. Jordan finished with three home runs, a batting average of .202, 51 RBIs, 30 stolen bases and 114 strike outs in 127 games.
Although he never reached the Major Leagues, Jordan looks back on his brief time in baseball with pride. And his impact at the Barons is still being felt today. A trip to their website offers a multitude of memorabilia items such as Jordan jerseys and other collectables.
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