Here’s NBC Sports Chicago reporting on some interesting insight into a turn Michael Jordan’s brief pro baseball career could have taken:
Michael Jordan’s departure from his life as the greatest basketball player in the world to play minor league baseball with the White Sox is the stuff of Chicago legend.
But it might have gone quite differently. And with a different organization altogether.
Former Oakland Athletics general manager Sandy Alderson told ESPN’s Buster Olney on a recent edition of the Baseball Tonight podcast that he offered Jordan a spot on his major league roster in 1994.
“You recall when Jordan stopped playing basketball and decided to try baseball, and ultimately went down to the Birmingham Barons — the Chicago White Sox affiliate,” Alderson said. “When I heard that was happening, or about to happen, I called his agent right away and said, ‘Hey look, I understand he may be going to Double-A. I don’t even know who the 25th man is on our major league team right now, I will sign him and put him on the major league roster. He’ll be part of our 25-man team. Tomorrow.'”
Just speculating here, but unless Jordan had somehow magically been better at the major league level than he was in the minors, he’d still probably have wound up back in the NBA around the same time as he did. But this could have potentially been an even more fascinating detour.
