Jordan's Baseball Journey

   It started as a kid and ended in High School like most athletes in high school he played multi-sports in high school. He couldn't play in North Carolina because I doubt Dean Smith would have allowed him to play Baseball as well as Basketball. Plus by the time Basketball finished, Baseball had a month left in the season and I doubt a college manager would add a player with a month left in the season. This isn't the Major Leagues. Also, Michael didn't get a scholarship to play baseball and he didn't get drafted by the MLB, he left the game two games into his senior year (remember he was a top Basketball recruit at the time). Apparently, he had talks with his dad to try baseball when he retired. In the 1993 MLB All-Star game in Baltimore, Jordan participated in the Celebrity Home Run Derby and had Mr. October himself (Reggie Jackson) hit some fly balls to him. Then came the murder of his father which led to not only Jordan retiring from the NBA but also led to him giving baseball a shot. Also, I seriously doubt David Stern forced Jordan out of the NBA. Jordan was the league. Remember Magic and Bird left (though Magic came back briefly in 1995-96 season) Who was the guy/the face of the NBA when Jordan left the first time? Exactly, you don't know. Plus Jordan did everything he could do in the league, I still believe in was a first-ballot Hall of Famer if he stayed retired after the 1992-93 season. Can't argue with that. Months after that, on February 1994 Jordan surprise the world again by announcing he was signing a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox who were also owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, the owner of the Bulls. Also, he got a spring training invite to the White Sox in Sarasota where people when to see Air Jordan play baseball like well me. My dad took my mom, myself, and possibly my sister who was three at the time to see the White Sox the Yankees two straight years because there was no team in Tampa at the time unlike now with the Yankees who came in Tampa for Spring Training in 1996 which was the year they won the World Series. One of those years was 1994. He didn't play the game we were at but he did make an appearance. You know how catchers after either after finishing an at-bat or on the base pads, they have to put on their equipment back on and while the catcher is doing that. Someone is warming up the pitcher until the catcher has his equipment back on and ready to go. Michael Jordan was one of the players who warmed up the pitcher and after he did that, he smiled and jogged away. I wished my would have convinced my dad to show up early to get an autograph and/or picture of his Airness. Why didn't I? Man, I'm upset at my nine-year-old self though my nine-year-old self would be upset my current self so it's a wash. Some people weren't happy for his Baseball journey, Sports Illustrated put him on the cover saying "Bag it Michael" and how he and the White Sox were embarrassing baseball. Wait a few years guys. Ultimately, Michael didn't make the big league club and when to Birmingham to play for the Double-A Barons because they can handle the media blitz they were about to receive though Michael can have started on the big league roster. Also, their manager was Terry Francona (yes that Terry Francona). Recently, Sandy Alderson said during that 1994 season when he was the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics and he didn't know who the 25th player would be on his team and offered the spot to Michael which pissed off Reinsdorf and also Jordan declined the offer, working on his craft a little more than he would have as a Big Leaguer. His first his came against the Knoxville Smokies who had a First Baseman named Chris Weinke who like Michael Jordan switched sports and became a Heisman Trophy winner and an NFL quarterback at 29. Seeing the Last Dance, I'm was surprised to hear Jordan actually started with a 13 game hitting streak and then pitchers stop throwing him fastballs and he struggled for the next month and a half then he started to figure out the pitching. Granted yes he still finished with a .202 batting average but keep in mind he didn't play the game in 14 years. Plus he had 51 RBIs, imagine if his batting average was 20 to 30 points higher. Probably be in the 60-70s range, maybe even in the 80s. Also, he that 30 stolen bases at the age of 31. Probably would be double that if he was 21 (or even 100 stolen bases, Baseball was different in the 1980s). Plus he hit .252 Arizona Fall League where the cream of the crop play. Ultimately, he left the game after the MLB Owners planned to use replacement players and they consider getting Jordan who refused because he was a player rep for the Bulls in the NBA. He left the game and ended up coming back to the Bulls. Bad News for Birmingham and the Barons because Jordan was loved in the city and was one of the guys in the clubhouse. Good News for Chicago, the Bulls, NBA, and possibly the world. Especially for the Bulls because after they lost Horace Grant due to Free Agency they were fighting for a spot in the Playoffs and went they got Jordan back they went 13-4 and made the playoffs. They ended up losing in the second round of the Playoffs to Horace Grant's new team the Orlando Magic who were swept by the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals. I know people criticize his baseball tenure because of the .202 but some people believed that if Jordan stayed with Baseball for another 2-3 years maybe sooner. He would have made it to the Big Leagues. After watching not only the Last Dance but also the 30 for 30 "Jordan Rides the Bus" which is one of my favorite 30 for 30 episodes, I believe it would have been a possibility. His work ethic was second to none especially his workout schedule in those programs. He worked hard to try to make it to the Major Leagues. Francona said, "if he had 1,500 at-bats, he could have found his way to the Big Leagues,". Heck some people think he was a better baseball than Tim Tebow whose with the Triple-A team for the New York Mets and he was a few years younger than MJ when he started and Tebow got promoted twice. Another reason, I believe in the Jordan Baseball tenure is because I would have liked the Devil Rays have taken Jordan in the Expansion Draft. I'm sure if he would have been playing either in the minors or in the majors by the time the Devil Rays or the Diamondbacks came into the league in 1998. Expansion Teams would have loved to have him especially since most expansion teams lack of a better word usually suck when they start and I'm sure he would have made the roster for both team and boost attendance, especially in Tampa. We can't fill the Trop even with good teams. Plus I would have gotten an autograph and/or picture with him if the Devil Rays got him. However, would Reinsdorf allowed Jordan to go to the Expansion Draft? I highly doubt it. I don't think he would have done that to Michael. Also, SB Nation had Jordan following Francona to Philadelphia where he would have played with the Phillies. It would have been a good story to see Jordan play in the majors after a Hall of Fame career in the NBA however it was an even better story when Jordan came back to the NBA and won three more titles with the Bulls. Thank the MLB for the strike and the Supersonics for not making the trade for Scottie Pippen for Jordan comeback. It seems right in the world when Jordan returned to the NBA.