Jordan's baseball brethren recall

As he heads for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Friday, Michael Jordan received a tip of the cap from his baseball brethren.

Fifteen years have passed since Jordan traded the short pants for a pair of spikes, but the season he spent in the White Sox' system in 1994 is still fondly remembered.

"I think he handled it really well," said Ozzie Guillen, the Sox' starting shortstop in '94 and current manager. "He respected the game. One thing about it, every day when he got his uniform on, Michael Jordan the basketball player wasn't there.

"He was Michael Jordan the baseball player, and he suffered the way we all do."

Arriving at the White Sox' spring training camp in Sarasota, Fla., to embark on his new profession at the age of 31, Jordan had to deal with wave after wave of media every day.

He handled the press much like he did a double-team during his first stint with the Bulls, but Joey Cora - the Sox' starting second baseman at the time - got to see Jordan away from the spotlight.

Now working as the White Sox' bench coach, Cora took pride in working up a sweat while the sun was coming up.

"Usually, I was the first one at the ballpark," Cora said. "But he got there before me, 6 o'clock in the morning, working hard and trying to get better every day. He was the first one in the cage with (former hitting coach) Walt (Hriniak), and then me. That was very good to see a guy like him working so hard trying to make it."

Considering his advanced age when he attempted to make the transition from basketball to baseball, Jordan suffered more than most.

He was 0-for-14 in the Grapefruit League before getting his first hit, an infield single, but Jordan never had second thoughts about returning to a sport he last played in high school.

White Sox radio analyst Darrin Jackson was also in training camp in 1994, a nonroster invitee trying to win a job.

Like Jordan, Jackson played right field.

"I wanted to prove I could play, but people were always asking me, 'Hey Darrin, what's it like being out there in right field with Michael Jordan? Are you worried about him taking your job?'" Jackson recalled. "I said, 'Is Michael Jordan worried about me going on the basketball court taking his job?' Probably not.'

"It didn't bother me one bit. We were out there every day talking, hanging out in spring training. What I really liked the most about Michael Jordan was this, he worked harder than anybody else there.

"I talked to other guys who thought it was an embarrassment he was out there, he couldn't even hit the ball. I was like, 'Woah, wait a minute.' Here's a guy that hasn't played baseball since high school. He's actually making contact against major-league pitchers in spring training, and that's not that easy to do."

Jordan caught more flak while batting .202 with 3 home runs and 51 RBI in 127 games with Class AA Birmingham, managed by current Boston Red Sox skipper Terry Francona.

White Sox general manager Kenny Williams was a special assistant at the time, and he kept a close eye on Jordan's one - and only - pro season.

"I think he's not given enough credit for not playing baseball in such a long time and then going out in Double-A and hitting .200," Williams said. "A lot of people want to point that out as a failure, and I think they're absolutely off-base on that because to basically get out of bed and go out and hit .200 is much more amazing than people think it is."

Jordan was back in the White Sox' training camp in the spring of 1995, but a crippling player's strike that shut down major-league baseball in August of '94 was still in play.

Rather than carry on as a "replacement player," Jordan jetted out of Sarasota and returned to the Bulls.

His baseball career was brief, but Jordan left a lasting impression.

"He made sure he was treated like a baseball player; he made sure he was treated like a rookie guy," Guillen said. "He went through everything we did. If Michael was a younger age, I think he would have had a chance. He was a pretty good athlete.

"Obviously, when he wanted to play baseball it was a little too late. Not a little, a lot late. But he respected baseball. He wasn't there just because, he was there because he wanted to try to something different. People that criticized him, that's jealousy. He wanted to do it and the team gave him a shot."