3 takeaways from episodes 7 and 8 of The Last Dance, ESPN’s MJ doc
2. What if Jordan had stuck with baseball?
A .202 isn’t typically anything to cheer for at any level of baseball. It’s mighty impressive for a 31-year-old who last played the sport at 17.
“In my opinion, with 1,500 at-bats, he’d have found a way to get to the major leagues,” said Terry Francona, a two-time World Series champion and Manager of the Year who managed MJ for the double-A Birmingham Barons.
“He drove in 50 runs,” Francona said. “We had a lot of good prospects that didn’t drive in 50 runs.”
Jordan’s work ethic would’ve put in the appropriate amount of reps. Nearly every moment not spent on the field was being used in the batting cages or somewhere else to improve his raw skill-set.
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Michael Jordan hitting .200 in Double-A after not playing baseball for a decade is one of the most impressive athletic achievements ever. I’ll be taking no further questions at this time.
— Céspedes Family BBQ (@CespedesBBQ) May 11, 2020
Had Major League Baseball’s 1994-95 strike not resulted in a work stoppage, perhaps no avenue is presented to Jordan to make his NBA return. Maybe the prerequisite baseball experience comes and the necessary improvement follows.
We’re not talking about reaching the pinnacle of the MLB. We’re not talking about accumulating accolades or even commanding a starting job.
If Jordan stuck to the diamond for what would’ve been his latter three titles, would he have improved enough to earn a call up to the Majors? It sounds far fetched given his poor minor league numbers, but all signs point to a resounding yes.