Michael Jordan

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born in Brooklyn, New York on February 17, 1963) is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He was the Naismith Player of the Year award while at the University of North Carolina. He was named Rookie of the Year for his first season in the National Basketball Association, was the Most Valuable Player in the league five times, was the Most Valuable Player in the NBA finals for six championships with the Chicago Bulls. He was also named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996. Jordan retired finally in 2003 with 32,292 points, placing him third on the NBA's all-time scoring list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone.

Jordan is currently a resident of Highland Park, Illinois where his sons are in school. He plays golf avidly and regularly appears in Pro-Am tournaments. He also promotes the "Jordan Brand" of clothing launched by Nike, owns a Superbike motorcycle racing team, and is part-owner of the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats.

Jordan is known in Birmingham for his brief baseball career, which he spent with the 1994 Birmingham Barons.

Jordan announced on October 6, 1993 that he was retiring from the NBA, citing the loss of desire for playing the game. On February 7, 1994 he signed a free-agent contract with the Chicago White Sox to play professional baseball. The White Sox and Bulls are both owned by Jerry Reinsdorf. On March 31 he was assigned to the Sox' AA affiliate, the Barons. Before reporting he played in the Windy City Classic exhibition game against the Cubs, starting the game and batting 2 for 5 with 2 runs batted in.

Jordan started in right field against the Chattanooga Lookouts for his first game as a Baron. Wearing the same #45 he wore on his high school jersey, Jordan flied out in his first plate appearance and finished the game 0-3. His first hit came in his 8th plate appearance. He singled off Knoxville's Joe Ganote in the 3rd inning on April 10. He followed up with another hit later in the game and started a streak of 13 games with a hit. His first run batted in came the next night when he scored Steve Sax with a bases-loaded single. He also recorded his first of a team-high 30 stolen bases in that game.

Jordan's 7th inning double at Huntsville on April 28 broke a 4-4 tie and secured the Barons win. A throwing error on Jordan's ground ball to 3rd on July 6 helped complete a 6-run 9th inning comeback win over the Huntsville. Stars pitcher Steve Wojciechowski had a no hitter going into the final frame.

Jordan's first home run was over the Hoover Met's left field fence (380 feet) in front of record 13,752 fans. The solo homer came off the Carolina Mudcats Kevin Rychel in the bottom of the 8th inning on July 30. While diving for Joel Wolfe's line drive in 4th inning of the August 12 game against Huntsville, Jordan landed on his shoulder and strained his rotator cuff. He was treated by James Andrews and returned to the field after missing 5 games.

The Barons single-game attendance record was set at 16,247 on Saturday August 27. Jordan went 2-4 and stole a base in the 12-inning 6-3 victory. He finished the season with an 0-4 night on the road at Huntsville. Jordan amassed 88 hits, 51 walks and reached base after being hit by a pitch 4 times in 436 at bats for a batting average of .202. He had 114 strikouts, 3 sac flies, 17 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs and 30 stolen bases, racking up 116 total bases. He scored 46 times and drove in 51 runs. Living up to his reputation as a clutch player, Jordan led the club in RBI with bases loaded (11) and RBI with 2 outs and runners in scoring position (25). He played in 127 games and tied for the Southern League lead of 11 fielding errors. The team finished the season with an overall home attendance of 467,867. The spectacle of the 6 foot 6 NBA All-Star smacking gum in right field and staring down pitchers brought record crowds to the rest of the Southern League's ballparks as well. Journalists from around the world covered Jordan's progress.

On March 10, 1995 Jordan announced that he was leaving baseball behind and returning to the Bulls. He kept the number 45 until the finals that year, when he led the Bulls to another championship, the first of their second "three-peat" of the 1990s, all with Jordan at shooting guard. He wore his Barons jersey again for the filming of Space Jam (1996), a Warner Brothers film starring Jordan opposite Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters.

During his assignment to the Barons, Jordan lived in a gated estate in Greystone off of Highway 280. A new team bus, dubbed the "Jordan Cruiser" was put into service by Thrasher Brothers to publicize their involvement with the team. The Hoover Met has a conference/banquet room named after Jordan.

References

• Segrest, Doug (May 23, 2004) "Our summer with Michael." Birmingham News.
• Michael Jordan. (2007, January 31). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:23, January 31, 2007 [[1]]
• Birmingham Barons Career at mjordan23.com