What Professional Baseball Team Did Michael Jordan Play For?

Michael Jordan played for the Birmingham Barons, a minor league baseball team, in 1994.

Michael Jordan’s Baseball Career

Michael Jordan is a former professional baseball player who played for the Birmingham Barons, a minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, in 1994. He was drafted by the White Sox in the first round of the 1984 amateur draft. After hitting .202 with 3 HR, 51 RBI, and 30 stolen bases for the Barons, Jordan retired from baseball in March 1995 to return to the NBA.

Michael Jordan’s retirement from the NBA

In October 1993, Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA, citing a desire to spend more time with his family and to pursue a career in baseball. He joined the Birmingham Barons, a farm team of the Chicago White Sox, and was assigned to play outfield. Jordan struggled in his first season of professional baseball, batting .202 with three home runs, 51 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, and 11 outfield errors in 127 games.

Michael Jordan’s tryout with the White Sox

In the spring of 1994, after his first retirement from the NBA, Jordan decided to try his hand at professional baseball. He hadn’t played organized baseball since high school, but he was confident in his abilities and decided to give it a shot. He signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox and was assigned to their Double-A affiliate, the Birmingham Barons.

Jordan struggled in his first season, batting just .202 with three home runs, 51 RBIs and 114 strikeouts in 127 games. He showed some improvement in 1995, but was still far from being a major league-caliber player. After the season, he decided to retire from baseball and return to the NBA.

Michael Jordan’s signing with the Birmingham Barons

On February 7, 1994, Michael Jordan announced his retirement from the NBA. Two months later, he signed a minor league baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox, who were then a subsidiary of Jerry Reinsdorf’s sports empire. (Reinsdorf also owned the Bulls.) Birmingham was the Sox’ Double-A affiliate, and thus Jordan began his baseball career Donning number 45 for the Barons.

Jordan struggled in his return to organized baseball. In 127 games, he batted .202 with three home runs, 51 RBIs, 30 stolen bases and 114 strikeouts. He hit his first professional home run on July 30 off future major leaguer Fernando Lunar.

Michael Jordan’s Time with the Birmingham Barons

Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, played one season of professional baseball for the Birmingham Barons, a farm team of the Chicago White Sox. It was a short-lived and mostly unsuccessful foray into baseball, but it did provide some entertainment for fans during the 1994-1995 MLB strike.

Michael Jordan’s stats with the Birmingham Barons

Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American former professional basketball player and the principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. His biography on the official NBA website states: “By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time.” He was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.

Jordan played three seasons of minor league baseball in 1994–96 as an outfielder for two Class AA teams, the Birmingham Barons and Scottsdale Scorpions. He batted a combined .202 with 3 home runs, 51 RBIs, 30 stolen bases, and 138 strikeouts in 127 games.

Michael Jordan’s time with the Scottsdale Scorpions

From 1994 to 1995, Michael Jordan played minor league baseball for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League. He also briefly played for the Birmingham Barons, a Chicago White Sox farm team, in 1994. In 2001, he became part-owner and managing partner of the Washington Wizards (now the Washington Wizards).

Michael Jordan’s Return to the NBA

Michael Jordan played baseball for the Birmingham Barons, a professional baseball team, in 1994. He played outfield and batted .202 with three home runs, 51 RBIs, 30 stolen bases, and 114 strikeouts. Following the season, Jordan announced his return to the NBA.

Michael Jordan’s announcement of his return to the NBA

On March 18, 1995, Michael Jordan announced his return to the National Basketball Association (NBA), after a nearly two-year retirement. He had originally retired from the NBA in October 1993, following the death of his father. Jordan played baseball for a short time after his retirement from basketball, but he struggled at the plate and was not selected to play in any major league games.

Jordan’s return to the NBA was highly anticipated, and it helped increase viewership of the league’s games. He rejoined the Chicago Bulls, with whom he had won three NBA championships in the early 1990s. In his first game back from retirement, Jordan scored 19 points against the Indiana Pacers. He went on to lead the Bulls to another NBA championship that year.

Michael Jordan’s first game back with the Chicago Bulls

It was March 18, 1995. Michael Jordan had just announced his return to the NBA after a brief retirement, and the basketball world was abuzz. His first game back was against the Indiana Pacers, and it did not disappoint.

Jordan scored 24 points in 44 minutes of play, including a clutch jump shot with just seconds remaining to seal the victory for the Bulls. The game was a testament to his greatness, as he proved that he could still dominate at the highest level after more than a year away from the game.

It was also a sign of things to come, as Jordan would go on to lead the Bulls to three more NBA championships in the next four years.