Career Chapter
Birmingham Barons Baseball Career (1994)
In 1994, the greatest basketball player alive traded high-tops for cleats and spent a season in Double-A baseball with the Birmingham Barons.
| Player | Michael Jordan — Outfielder (1994) |
|---|---|
| Height / Weight | 6-6 / 205 lbs |
| Batted / Threw | Right / Right |
| Born | February 17, 1963, Brooklyn, N.Y. |
| Resides | Highland Park, Ill. |
| Signed By | Recommended/signed by Ron Schueler (White Sox) |
| How Obtained | Signed as a free agent by the White Sox, February 7, 1994 |
| Retired From Baseball | March 10, 1995 |
Jordan wore No. 45 for the Barons — the number he wore for the Laney (N.C.) High School baseball team.
The 1994 Season, Month by Month
- February 7 — Signed as a free agent by the Chicago White Sox.
- March 31 — Assigned to the Barons roster, setting off a frenzy of interest never before seen in minor league history.
- April 7 — Played in the Windy City Classic exhibition game for the White Sox against the Cubs, going 2-for-5 with 2 RBI.
- April 8 — Started in right field in his first official pro game for the Barons against Chattanooga; flew out in his first at-bat vs. John Courtright and went 0-for-3 in front of 10,359 fans and 130 members of the national and international media.
- April 10 — Collected his first hit (eighth at-bat) off Knoxville's Joe Ganote, a single in the 3rd inning at the Hoover Met. The two-hit day started a 13-game hit streak from April 10–26 (.378, 17-for-45).
- April 11 — Drove in his first run, a bases-loaded single which scored Steve Sax, and stole his first base vs. Knoxville.
- April 14 — The JordanCruiser made its debut as the bus took the Barons to Chattanooga for the first road trip of the season. Contrary to popular belief, Jordan did NOT buy the bus — his likeness did.
- April 28 — Drove in the first of 7 game-winning runs on the season at Huntsville with a 7th-inning double which broke a 4–4 tie and gave the Barons a 9–4 win.
- July 6 — Ended one of the wildest finishes in club history: the Barons were no-hit by Huntsville's Steve Wojciechowski through 8 innings, then rallied in the 9th and pulled within 5–3 with the bases loaded and two out. Jordan hit a grounder to third, which was thrown away into right field, clearing the bases for a 6–5 win.
- July 30 — Hit his first home run off Carolina's Kevin Rychel in the bottom of the 8th inning (345th at-bat) at the Hoover Met — a solo shot to left (approximately 380 feet) in front of a then Met-record crowd of 13,752.
- August 8 — Hit his second home run off Knoxville's Jeff Ware in the 3rd inning at the Met — a 3-run shot to left (355 feet) that was part of a 1-for-3, 3-RBI night.
- August 12 — Injured his left shoulder at Huntsville in the 4th inning diving for a ball in left field off the bat of Joel Wolfe that went for a triple; finished the game 1-for-4 at the plate. Examined by Dr. James Andrews and found to have a strained left rotator cuff and a sprained left shoulder capsule — missed just 5 games.
- August 20 — Homered for the third time at home vs. Chattanooga, a solo shot to left (350 feet) off Glen Cullop to lead off the 7th inning.
- August 27 — A Hoover Met-record crowd of 16,247 saw Jordan's final Saturday home game; he went 2-for-4 with a stolen base in a 6–3, 12-inning win.
- August 28 — The Barons finished the home schedule with a club-record 467,867 in attendance.
- Final pro game — Was 0-for-4 at Huntsville; a crowd of 7,987 pushed the final overall attendance mark to 986,185 (home and road). The club was covered by over 500 journalists from the U.S. and 8 foreign countries, was televised 3 times nationally and once regionally.
The Bottom Line
Jordan batted .202 with 3 home runs, 51 RBI and 30 stolen bases (tied for 5th in the Southern League), 11 errors and 6 outfield assists. He led the club with RBI with the bases loaded (11) and RBI with runners in scoring position and two out (25).
He retired from baseball on March 10, 1995 to return to the NBA's Chicago Bulls, whom he had led to three straight NBA titles (1991–93) during his first stint in Chicago. He wore No. 45 upon his return until the 1995 NBA playoffs vs. Orlando, when he switched back to his "retired" No. 23.
Jordan donned his Barons uniform one more time in the summer of 1995 to film Space Jam for Warner Brothers. The combination live-action/animated film with the Looney Tunes characters opened in 1996.
