1993-94:
After winning his third straight NBA title with the Chicago Bulls in 1992-93, Jordan had a tough offseason that reached its nadir when his father, James Jordan, was murdered in North Carolina. On October 6, just one day before the start of training camp, Jordan stunned the basketball world by announcing his retirement. He left holding the highest career scoring average in NBA history at 32.3 points per game.
After much speculation about his plans, Jordan returned to the spotlight in a baseball uniform. He spent the 1994 baseball season playing for the Birmingham Barons, an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox in the Class AA Southern League. An adequate outfielder, he hit .202 in 127 games, striking out 114 times in 436 at bats. Jordan belted 3 home runs, collected 51 RBIs, and stole 30 bases. He also led all Southern League outfielders with 11 errors.

Wore # 45 for the Barons (number won for Laney (NC) High School baseball team)
Assigned to the Barons roster March 31, 1994, setting off a frenzy of interest never before seen in minor league history

Joined the Barons April 8 after playing in Windy City Classic exhibition game April 7 for the White Sox against the Cubs, where he was 2-5 with 2 RBI...started in right field in 1st official pro game for the Barons against Chattanooga...flew out in 1st at-bat vs John Courtright and went 0-3 in front of 10,359 and 130 members of the national and international media

Collected 1st hit (8th at-bat) off Joe Ganote Of Knoxville, a single in the 3rd inning April 10 at the Hoover Met...the 2-hit day started a 13-game hit streak from April 10-26 (.378, 17-45)
Drove in 1st run, a bases loaded single which scored Steve Sax , and stole 1st base April 11 vs. Knoxville

The JordanCruiser made its debut April 14 as as the bus took the Barons to Chattanooga for the 1st road trip of the season...contrary to popular belief, Jordan did NOT buy the bus. His likeness Did.

Drove in 1st of 7 game-winning runs on the season April 28 at Huntsville with a 7th-inning double which broke a 4-4 tie and gave the Barons a 9-4 win
Ended one of the wildest finishes in club history on July 6...Barons were no-hit by Huntsville's Steve Wojciechowski through 8 innings...Barons rallied in the 9th and pulled within 5-3 with the bases loaded and 2 out...Jordan hit a grounder to third, which was thrown away into right field, clearing the bases for a 6-5 win

Hit first HR on July 30 off Carolina's Kevin Rychel in the bottom of the 8th inning (345th at-bat) at the Hoover Met. It was a solo shot to left (approximately 380 feet) in front of a then Met-record crowd of 13,752

Hit 2nd HR on August 8 off Knoxville's Jeff Ware in the 3rd inning at the Met...3-run shot to left (355 feet) was part of a 1-3, 3 RBI night

Injured left shoulder August 12 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 1-4 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

Homered for the 3rd time at home August 20 vs. Chattanooga, a solo shot to left (350 feet) off Glen Cullop to lead off the 7th inning
A Hoover Met-record crowd of 16,247 saw Jordan's final Saturday home game August 27...went 2-4 with a stolen base in a 6-3, 12-inning win
Barons finished home schedule August 28 with a club-record 467,867 in attendance
Was 0-4 in final pro game at Huntsville...crowd of 7,987 pushed the final overall attendance mark to 986,185 (home and road)

Club covered by over 500 Journalists from the U.S. and 8 foreign countries...Barons were televised 3 times on national television and once on regional TV
Batted .202 with 3 HR, 51 RBI, 30 SB (tied-5th in Southern League), 11 errors and 6 outfield assists...led the club with RBI with the bases loaded (11) and RBI with runners in scoring position and 2 out (25)

Retired from baseball March 10, 1995 to return to the NBA's Chicago Bulls...led the Bulls to 3 straight NBA titles (1991-93) during his 1st stint in Chicago...wore #45 upon his return until the 1995 NBA playoffs vs. Orlando when he switched back to his "retired" #23.

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.


A Western Australia Michael Jordan Society presentation. Michael Jordan, the best there ever was, the best there ever will be...