The brief but intriguing baseball career of the Chicago Bulls legendary shooting guard Michael Jordan leaves a lot to think about even in the modern day.
The lengthy and accomplished basketball career of the all-time great 6-foot-6 and 195 pound Chicago Bulls shooting guard and former North Carolina Tar Heel Michael Jordan did have a few twists and turns along the way. Although it’s hard to argue that MJ isn’t the best player not only in the history of the Bulls franchise, but the entire NBA, he did have a few hurdles in his career.
One of the biggest hurdles that Jordan faced was off-the-court issues, especially once the mid-1990’s came around. Jordan would have his first of two retirements during his playing days in the mid-1990’s, when he tried his hand at playing baseball in the Chicago White Sox minor league organization.
The team that is always made famous for boasting Jordan in his one year playing baseball is the White Sox minor league affiliate Birmingham Barons. At the age of 31, Jordan played in 127 games with the White Sox Double-A affiliate Barons. He registered a .202 batting average, .556 OPS, three home runs, 51 runs batted in, and an impressive 30 stolen bases. He also posted a fielding percentage just north of 95.0, which isn’t too bad for his first season playing baseball.
However, the start for Jordan in the minor leagues was not very good. It took him a while to get a feel for his swing, but once he did he was really off and running. Jordan didn’t really last all that long in the minors before jumping back to the Bulls in the midst of the 1994-95 season. But he did surely make his mark on the minors in his one year playing baseball.
And the Bulls and White Sox long-time owner Jerry Reinsdorf certainly agrees that Jordan left his mark on the minors, and was trending in the right direction statistically before going back to basketball. According to a piece done with Bob Nightengale of USA Today that was released on July 14, Reinsdorf feels that Jordan “would have reached the majors” if he stuck to baseball longer than just part of one year.
Here’s the bulk of what this piece had to say on the matter regarding Reinsdorf’s thoughts on Jordan’s baseball career.
"“Yes, I really do (think so),’’ Reinsdorf tells USA TODAY Sports. “Maybe as an extra outfielder. Look at what he accomplished.“He last played baseball in high school at 17, and at the age of 31, he was playing in AA. We should have started him in A-ball, but the press accommodations weren’t adequate. So, 14 years later, he competed in AA, hit over .250 in the Arizona Fall League.“If he had played another year, I really believe he would have made the big leagues.’’"
While Jordan definitely had his production trending in the right direction in the minors prior to the end of the 1994 season, it is mostly a good thing for his accolades that he went back to the NBA. He would wind up winning three more titles with the Bulls before it was all said and done for him once he rejoined the team from the White Sox organization.
Jordan would only play in 17 regular season games with the Bulls once he rejoined the team for the rest of the 1994-95 season. They only stuck around in the playoffs until the second round too before they were ousted by the Orlando Magic.