It wasn't all bad for Jordan, though, as Bertotti and teammate Barry Johnson told Anderson the Bulls legend made noticeable strides as the season continued and was particularly determined to improve all while being "one of the guys" and carrying his bags, riding the buses and living the minor league life.īoth teammates praised Jordan for consistently being the first one in the clubhouse and continuously doing the extra work in batting practice and before games. "He's like, 'well, it's really not my decision, it's coming from upstairs.'"Įven Space Jam treated Jordan's baseball career as a punchline during a scene with broadcaster Jim Rome poking fun at his failures on the diamond. Can you please put him in left field,'" Bertotti said. "We said, 'Tito, listen, you're killing us. Mike Bertotti, who was a teammate of Jordan's on the Barons, told Anderson members of the team's pitching staff had meetings with manager Terry Francona and asked him to move Jordan from right field to left field because he didn't have the throwing ability to prevent runners from advancing to third. He is an icon in every sense of the word, and it wasn't because of his baseball career. After all, his name is synonymous with greatness when it comes to basketball, and he still is a one-man brand nearly 20 years after his final retirement. The overall perception of Jordan's baseball career was that it was a failure. "Michael Jordan could've gone to be a curler somewhere and people would've been really interested in how he was going to do in curling," Jim Callis, who was the former managing editor of Baseball America, said, per Dodson. The decision left Cleveland Indians outfield prospect Manny Ramirez in the corner of the cover and out of focus. Aaron Dodson of The Undefeated noted Baseball America put Jordan on the cover for the American League Central preview edition even though he wasn't even a top-10 prospect within the White Sox's organization. In addition to drawing massive crowds whenever the Barons went on the road, the basketball legend became the focus of baseball media. Still, Jordan was a major attraction, even on a minor league team. The magazine ran a cover image of Jordan swinging and missing at a pitch with the words, "Bag It, Michael! Jordan and the White Sox Are Embarrassing Baseball." Darren Rovell of Action Network noted His Airness was so upset he denied the magazine interview requests in the aftermath. Perhaps the most famous reaction to Jordan's baseball career came from Sports Illustrated.
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