Spring Training past?
In the spring of 1994 the world’s greatest basketball player at that time turned up in the Chicago White Sox training camp in Sarasota.
Yes, Michael Jordan – that Michael Jordan! – who’d retired from the NBA on the eve of the 1993-94 season, decided to give baseball a try as an homage to his father who’d been murdered the summer of 1994. James Jordan Sr. had reportedly envisioned his son as a professional baseball player.
Jordan toiled away with the White Sox AA Birmingham Barons for the 1994 season, played in the Arizona Fall League, and then gave up the dream the following spring amidst MLB’s labor uncertainty. He then rejoined the Chicago Bulls,, played the final 17 games, and finished 11th in the MVP voting!
Here is Jordan’s Baseball-Reference page for his season in Birmingham. And a bit of an oral history from a recent piece in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.