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Exhibit A and only evidence needed for why Baseball is the hardest sport on Earth
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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00:00There!
00:01Michigan can't take a timeout.
00:08No one goes.
00:09Line right.
00:17Hi everybody, I'm Brian Kenney.
00:18And welcome to ESPN Classics' Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame.
00:22A series that takes a fresh look at sports figures remembered largely for their mistakes,
00:26controversial moments, or questionable decisions.
00:29When Michael Jordan first retired from the Chicago Bulls in October of 1993,
00:33following his father's murder, the sports world was shocked.
00:37Four months later, Jordan dropped another bombshell.
00:40He decided to pursue a career in baseball.
00:43Over the next half hour, we'll take a look at why you can't blame MJ for taking a swing at
00:47America's pastime.
00:48But first, we'll take a look back at how the decision threatened to change his moniker from Air Jordan to
00:54Error Jordan.
00:55I've heard it.
01:05Michael Jordan was at the pinnacle of his success in 1993.
01:11Michael had it all.
01:12He had the looks.
01:13He had the personality.
01:17Everything he touched became cool and became a trend.
01:21Ladies and gentlemen, Michael Jordan!
01:26Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.
01:38Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.
01:46While maintaining his cool image on Madison Avenue, Jordan stayed hot on the basketball court in 1993,
01:53winning his seventh straight scoring title and leading the Bulls to a third consecutive NBA championship.
01:59For Chicago, happy days were becoming a way of life.
02:04Certainly, destiny shall be back here for the fourth time.
02:10Then, with shivering suddenness, Jordan said thank you and good night on October 6th.
02:16Michael Jordan has stunned the sports and popular culture world by announcing that he has decided to retire from basketball.
02:24For a guy in his prime who seemed happy, there was no reason to think that he was going to
02:30quit.
02:31It's time to be a little bit unselfish in terms of spending more time with my family, with my wife,
02:35my kids, and just get back to a normal life.
02:39I wouldn't retire to spend more time with my family. Next, I saw Michael, he was in spring training with
02:43the White Sox.
02:44Less than two months after retiring to what he called a normal life, Jordan was swinging away at Comiskey Park.
02:52On February 7th, 1994, the White Sox signed him to a minor league contract.
02:58There was a handful of guys that probably resented the fact that he had gotten where he was because of
03:05who he was.
03:05Everybody around baseball, players, managers, scoffed at the idea.
03:10See, that makes no sense.
03:13How dare a great athlete get an opportunity at a thing that's also for athletes.
03:21It's not like he was just some celebrity. He was a great athlete, and he played baseball in his youth.
03:30An average hitter and pitcher in high school, the 31-year-old rookie was clearly out of his depth in
03:36spring training.
03:37You're 0-14. Stop. Give it up. I mean, if you have Ds, are you applying to Harvard?
03:44He took up a spot in a joyride in a hobby that somebody who had a legitimate chance of playing
03:50in the big leagues might have taken.
03:52That somebody was 22-year-old Charles Poe.
03:56While Jordan drew more headlines than walks, Poe, who was expected to be promoted to the AA Birmingham Barons, was
04:03sent back to single A.
04:05Mike, it was very awesome to be on the same field as you, but no way possible were you a
04:10better baseball player than me.
04:11And I don't know why you decided to come play baseball and mess up my year in 94.
04:18To Poe's point, Jordan finished the season with the Barons with a 2-0-2 average and a strikeout every
04:243.5 at-bats.
04:26Beyond the numbers, it just gets worse.
04:30You see the guy swinging at balls that are in his eyes, swinging at balls. It was almost as if
04:35pitchers were toying with him.
04:38Jordan back up the middle to the pitcher, double play in order. There's one over the first for two.
04:42He got picked off a lot of times. He didn't know how to slide. He went into the home plate,
04:49I remember one time, with just both feet laying out.
04:52It was a head first slide in reverse.
04:57He's the hardest sport. He doesn't even look like he's ever done anything athletic in his whole life.
05:03This is Michael Jordan.
05:08Geez.
05:10I'd never want to hear anybody disrespect baseball again.
05:14Michael Jordan couldn't do it.
05:19I want him to just take off the cleats, throw away the batting gloves, and just please come back home
05:25and do what you were meant to do.
05:26Lead us to another title.
05:27But no cleats came off as Jordan headed for the Arizona Fall League, where he managed just five extra base
05:35hits and eight RBIs in 123 at-bats.
05:39While Jordan whiffed on the diamond, the Bulls waned for the better part of two seasons.
05:44If Michael Jordan is not swinging a curveball, the Bulls win eight straight NBA titles, and you can talk about
05:52it even more as maybe the greatest dynasty of all time.
05:55Time out, time out, time out.
05:57They still would have lost to the Rockies in 95, in my opinion.
06:02They would have gone four straight in 94, and then the three straight in 96 to 98.
06:10They would have lost that finals in 95.
06:14And it wouldn't have taken anything away.
06:19I'm not for Michael playing baseball.
06:22I wasn't for him playing.
06:24I could have had two more championships if he didn't play.
06:26He disrupted the greatest career that we'll ever see in our lifetime in professional sports to go play baseball.
06:36You've just seen why Jordan is blamed for his decision to try and play baseball.
06:40Before we give you the top five reasons why you can't blame his airness, here are some reasons that missed
06:45the cut.
06:46We call them the best of the rest.
06:49Bill Veck.
06:50The White Sox, who were controlled by Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf in 1994, had a tradition for publicity stunts.
06:58It began decades earlier when the team was owned by the game's most inventive promoter.
07:03Bill Veck was the greatest showman of all, and he found ways to put people in the stands.
07:08He had disco demolition night, where a local DJ blew up records.
07:16He had Louis Aparicio and Nelly Fox playing short in second.
07:20He had a helicopter land in the middle of the field, and they were captured by Martians.
07:24This is what the White Sox were known for, so nobody was surprised at all that Michael Jordan all of
07:30a sudden ended up wearing a White Sox uniform.
07:34Our other best of the rest, Bo Jackson.
07:38Jackson, what a catch in left field.
07:41In the early 1990s, while Jordan was winning scoring titles, Jackson was being celebrated as the best two-sport athlete
07:48of the era.
07:49And nobody catches Bo.
07:51Perhaps the image Jordan saw in the mirror was not his own.
07:56When you're comparing yourself to other athletes, when you're called the greatest, they have to look at the other athletes
08:01to play the other sport.
08:03Bo knows football.
08:04Bo knows baseball.
08:05Bo knows basketball, too.
08:07That could have crossed Michael's mind.
08:09You know, hey, wait a second.
08:10He could play two sports.
08:12Why can't I?
08:13Bo Jackson, when he was playing baseball for the White Sox, shattered his hip and was still out there being
08:20Bo Jackson.
08:21Oh, Bo.
08:22Way back to deep center.
08:24It is way out of here.
08:27The fact that Bo was doing it in Chicago from a baseball standpoint, I may, you know, egged on a
08:33little bit of Michael's idea that, you know what, I could probably do this, too.
08:36Well, you know, it became personal with me, is what Mike would say.
08:41So he was jealous, I guess.
08:45I don't know why Michael Jordan would be jealous of anybody.
08:49But, you know, I wouldn't put it past him.
08:56He was trying to match up the names of every player to their pictures because he wanted to be able
09:03to walk into the clubhouse.
09:08Magic and Bird.
09:10Their retirements, Magic Johnson's in 1991, after he tested HIV positive, and Larry Bird's in 1992, due to a chronic
09:19back ailment, moved Jordan to the center of the basketball universe.
09:24Those two guys are gone, and you look around, and it's like, okay, Michael, it's up to you.
09:28It's all on you, man.
09:29With Magic and Bird gone, the spotlight on Jordan widened beyond the court.
09:35Michael Jordan is getting scalped for a trip to an Atlantic City casino last Monday night on the eve of
09:40the second game of the Bulls-Knicks Eastern Conference Playoff Championship.
09:44Like, there's no reason anybody should have found that out.
09:49We, people can hide more than Michael Jordan could back then, today, with social media and cameras everywhere.
09:58Just regular people having cameras.
10:03He, worn down, annoyed, angry with the media.
10:07I was not out until 2.30, 1.30, or 2 o'clock.
10:10I was in my bed.
10:11I got eight hours of sleep.
10:12I have to do what I can do at the game.
10:14In June of 1993, NBA commissioner David Stern launched a probe into Jordan's gambling habits.
10:21Although the four-month investigation turned up no evidence that the Bulls' star violated league rules,
10:27the additional media attention increased the pressure on Jordan.
10:34Nothing less than another NBA championship, most valuable player in the league, MVP in the finals, would be considered successful.
10:43I was tired of being in that, in that light, in that expectation.
10:47I needed a change.
10:49It's like, wait a minute.
10:51If I go to play baseball, no one's expecting me to forget about it.
10:55Great.
10:55No one's expecting me to be good.
10:57He had a chance for one year to be almost normal, and he rarely had that chance when he was
11:05in the NBA.
11:08Did reason number five suit you?
11:10If not, try this on for size.
11:14Reason number four.
11:15He's an addict.
11:17Jordan's burning desire to compete led him down the road to baseball.
11:21You can't blame Michael Jordan for needing baseball because Michael Jordan needs to have his hands in something.
11:29His will to win and his competitive nature is higher than anybody else's.
11:35I can remember beating him in a game of pool three games in a row and he didn't speak to
11:38me for 24 hours.
11:40It was my mother.
11:41People were calling him the greatest player of all time for nine years into his career, eight healthy years.
11:49He had completed basketball.
11:52And Michael and myself playing just a simple game of go fish or something, and I called him cheating my
11:58mother.
11:59Michael Jordan was 30 years old when he retired.
12:02To think that he was going to retire and, I don't know, go home and take out the trash?
12:06Of course, that's ridiculous.
12:07I knew he was going to retire this year or next year because he wants to play golf.
12:12He was so addicted to golf.
12:15If it wasn't baseball, it was going to be golf.
12:18If it wasn't golf, it may have been wrestling.
12:23Jordan did wrestle with his back.
12:25He clearly wanted to excel.
12:28From hitting, his hands would get blisters on him, and then they would start bleeding a little bit.
12:34And he could have just said, you know, I don't think I can continue to hit anymore today.
12:37He never said that.
12:40I'm strong enough to accept failure, but I will not accept not trying.
12:44I played professional baseball for 19 years, and I do not recall ever spending as much time in spring training
12:50in the ballpark that he did every day.
12:53Spin for a ton.
12:54Jordan goes over.
12:54Makes the diving stab.
12:56I think people realize that I do have some capabilities that are possibly playing this game.
13:02With effort came improvement, as Jordan was one of six players in double-A to drive in 50 runs and
13:09steal 30 bases.
13:11Even in baseball, there were kids who wanted to be like Mike.
13:17You can't blame a guy who has been idolized by millions and who thrives on action, who thrives on cheering,
13:25to seek that out.
13:30Earlier in the show, we mentioned Charles Poe.
13:33The outfielder sent back to Class A to make room for Jordan.
13:37What became of Poe?
13:38In 2002, he hung up his glove with a .267 average after 13 seasons in the minors.
13:46Michael wasn't knocking a young prospect out of time playing him.
13:49He played every day, and if you're a good enough player to play in the major leagues, you'll find a
13:55way to get yourself to the major leagues.
13:57At first, I was bitter, but it's okay.
14:00I'm over it now.
14:01Now I'm coaching with the Toronto Blue Jays.
14:03I didn't coach an A-ball, and I'm still in the game.
14:08Jimmy Hoffa.
14:09What?
14:10As president of the Teamsters Union in the 50s and 60s, his powerful leadership of more than 2 million members
14:17helped change the working life of a nation.
14:20And I pray to the millions of members of organized labor, those who fight for you, fight to win.
14:27Jimmy Hoffa's America was a strong labor union America.
14:32If you grew up in that America, you did not cross a union.
14:35There was a spillover, you know, from what the Teamsters' success was into professional sports.
14:41Hoffa's success resonated years later in the labor movement in Major League Baseball, but it would eventually destroy Jordan's dream.
14:49Day one and counting of the baseball strike of 94.
14:54When the players' strike, which began in August, continued through the training of 1995, Jordan became increasingly concerned.
15:03I'm a minor leaguer, I'm strictly as a minor leaguer, and if the strike is still on, I'm going to
15:08the minor league somewhere.
15:09I'm certainly not going nowhere near the Major League field.
15:12He could have very easily broken the strike, and then all hell would have broken loose there, because Michael Jordan's
15:18going to play in the big league.
15:19People were going to watch him no matter what.
15:22You're bringing in players to maybe fill the spots of Major League players, and Michael was starting to get dragged
15:27into that.
15:28I know he was very uncomfortable.
15:30If it's going to be something that's going to deteriorate what the players are trying to achieve, or it brings
15:35me in the middle, then I'd rather step aside.
15:37It's about union principles.
15:39And Michael Jordan, you know, picked up the principles of Jimmy Hoffa and said, I'm going to stand with them.
15:44And Jordan today walked out of the White Sox camp.
15:50After leaving training camp on March 2, 1995, Jordan stayed loyal to the union cause in the highest Hoffa tradition.
15:58But it would be with another union, the NBA Players Association.
16:02For Jordan, baseball was history.
16:06The saddest part of this whole thing is that we didn't get to see him another year.
16:11You know, that we didn't get to see if he could have really done it.
16:14He could run.
16:16His arm strength was getting better.
16:18He was starting to make adjustments as a hitter.
16:21Go!
16:22Home run!
16:23Michael Jordan!
16:25He had the ability and the work ethic, and I think he's a guy that definitely would have been able
16:29to play in the big leagues.
16:30It's sort of a shame that we never really did see him carry it through to as far as he
16:35wanted to because of the strike.
16:36And because his loyalty to the union wouldn't have allowed him to cross the picket line.
16:43Have we begun to change your mind yet?
16:45If not, take a look at reason number two.
16:48Field of dreams.
16:50By playing baseball, Jordan was fulfilling a promise he made to his father.
16:54His dad was a huge baseball fan.
16:57He didn't idolize Oscar Robertson.
17:00He idolized Roberto Clemente.
17:02He wasn't necessarily shooting baskets with Michael outside.
17:05He was playing catch with Michael.
17:06His father had always talked about what a good baseball player he was.
17:10They must have had some conversations throughout his young adulthood about,
17:15gee, Michael, you should have played baseball.
17:18In the summer of 1993, Jordan's world stopped spinning.
17:23Here he is at the very top of his life.
17:26Then all of a sudden he gets a word privately that his father had set off in his car somewhere
17:31and had never arrived.
17:35Time stretched on, and Michael's mom was calling and saying,
17:39I'm worried, I'm concerned, you know, I don't know where he is.
17:41He was going to a friend's funeral, and that was really the last they heard.
17:45A red Lexus, model of 400 vehicle, was found in a wooded area.
17:50This vehicle belonged to Mr. James Jordan, father of Michael Jordan.
17:57What scared Michael was when they found the Lexus.
18:01He knew then that something was very, very wrong.
18:05A body found 10 days ago in Bennettsville, South Carolina,
18:08was positively identified today as James Jordan.
18:12The public being shocked that Jordan's not going to play basketball
18:16is nowhere close to the shock he felt
18:19when he found out one morning that, yeah, the reason your dad can't be found
18:23is that he's been murdered.
18:25What our reaction was to what he decided to do by playing baseball is really meaningless.
18:30It wasn't about us.
18:32It was about him.
18:35My father presented a challenge to me before he died was to try to play baseball.
18:39His father even recommended to him after we won the first championship
18:42that he go play baseball at that time.
18:44I took it upon myself to at least put forth the effort.
18:47I've always had those dreams of playing baseball, starting in baseball,
18:49and I just wanted to try it.
18:52Michael Jordan would have never tried to play baseball
18:54had his father not been murdered.
18:56I know for a fact it was cause and effect.
19:00He said he'd be driving to the spring training complex,
19:03and I'll turn to the seat next to me, and I'll see my dad.
19:08He says, and I'll look over there, and I'll think,
19:10Pops, we're doing this.
19:11No matter what people say or what people criticize me for,
19:15I feel this is the best way that I can repay what my father's done for me
19:18for a long time, and that was to play this game.
19:21It isn't just my father's dream.
19:24It was my dream, too, and I'm going to continue to do that,
19:27and I may fail, but, you know, I'm going to try.
19:32When he hit his first home run, I've never seen such an emotional home run in my life.
19:40When he pointed up to the heavens as if acknowledging that was for you, Dad,
19:45that still to this day gives you just chill bumps
19:48because you know it's something personal for Jordan,
19:51something self-fulfilling for him.
19:57He came back and was better than ever.
20:01It took the hiatus of playing baseball
20:03to rekindle Jordan's passion on the hardwood.
20:06Anybody who enjoyed the last three Bulls championship years
20:10shouldn't be too upset that Jordan took that to baseball
20:14because it was the baseball experience that brought him back.
20:18But even while he played baseball,
20:20Jordan stayed connected to the game he once owned.
20:23We'd go out and play pickup games every once in a while,
20:26and you could tell he still wanted that competitive edge
20:28to play basketball.
20:30You know, I was asking them for getting advice.
20:32They were asking me to come out and join them
20:34in playing a pickup basketball game.
20:36I never took the game as something to run away from.
20:39I always ran to it, and they helped me run back to the game.
20:42In September of 1994, Jordan scored 52 points
20:46in a charity game at Chicago Stadium's last event
20:49before being raised.
20:54The guy comes out there, he puts on a show,
20:57and I think we all had an inkling that he might come back
21:01at the end of that game when he kissed center court.
21:06The game of basketball was always going to be a part of me.
21:08I never said I was going to stop playing the game.
21:11Two weeks after he quit baseball, Jordan was back with the Bulls.
21:15After losing in the 1995 Eastern Conference semifinals,
21:19Jordan returned to form the following season
21:21when the Bulls went a record 72-10
21:24on their way to the first of three more NBA titles.
21:32For me, baseball was not failing because it rejuvenated me to think
21:38and come back to the game of basketball with a new energy,
21:42with a new understanding for what that game was all about
21:44and what it meant to me.
21:45When he went back to the NBA, he goes,
21:47I saw how you guys did it, saw how much you love what you're doing.
21:51I really enjoy basketball more now.
21:54Those minor leaguers were the best thing that happened to me
21:56because of what they did every single day,
21:59not knowing that they were going to make it to the big league.
22:01It was their true love for the game, and I lost that.
22:05And I found it again, playing minor league baseball.
22:12Well, there you have it.
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