Some are saying that getting to AA is still a decent accomplishment, which I would agree with, but would he have even gotten a chance to play there if he wasn’t already the world famous Michael Jordan?
Like… did he play at Class A and do well?
No. His celebrity and newsworthiness demanded he go directly to AA. Specifically, the Birmingham Barons.
… one other thing to consider about Jordan’s baseball career is that, IIRC, he did improve rather significantly during the last “half” of his stint in the minors. When he started out he couldn’t hit the ball to save his life. He got his averaage up to over .200 by the time he was done, which included a couple of nice streaks I think. His fielding and baserunning also were improving. Not to say he would have ever made it to the majors if he’d stuck it out longer, but pretty much nobody spends less than a full season in minor league ball and jumps to the majors; it always takes a few years of work and given his improvement and overall athleticism he might have had an outside shot at at least making it if he’d stuck it out and worked at it for a few years.
Maybe the other hijack question should be what Jordan would have accomplished in the NBA if he hadn’t “retired” the first time.
Here, here. He didn’t stink, he just wasn’t as supernatural on the diamond as the court.
But that’s the point.
Jordan WASN’T an AA-level ballplayer, he was a Rookie League player at best - he couldn’t hit AA pitching. It’s not just the low average, it’s the lack of “secondary average,” the mental errors you would expect from such an inexperienced player, and the fact that he wasn’t a very good defensive player. (He was an OK basestealer, though, swiping 30 bags in 48 attempts - not especially good, but some potential there.) A .202 hitter who hits 20 homers and draws 80 walks and who can play some defense might have some value; Jordan didn’t have those extras. He might have been able to handle Rookie League pitching, but in truth he was probably closer to college ball.
That’s better than most people, and he wasn’t the WORST player in the league by any means, but it’s still not a AA player. I believe he might well have made a decent baseball player if he’d started at 20, because he’s a magnificent athlete and obviously a competitor of the first order. You could say the same about other guys too - according to anyone who watched him play baseball when he was a kid, Wayne Gretzky would have been a baseball All-Star if he hadn’t become a pro hockey player.
What’s the baseball analogue of “Can take 5 steps to the basket without getting whistled”? Whatever it is, he didn’t get it. That probably made a major difference between the “quality” of his play.
They asked baseball scouts at the time and they said his lack of hand speed would prevent him from ever getting much better. The fact that he hit over .200 without natural talent speaks volumes about his other athletic abilities.
the punchline to the OP is actually:
“cause the balls were too small…”
- sorry.
We used to follow the St. Paul Saints here in the Twin Cities.
Michael Jordan was not a bad minor league player. He was, however, probably about six years to old to have a chance at making it as even an average major league player on skill (he did have a chance of making it as a name - and I think that was part of the reason he quit).
We get guys with the Saints who haven’t made it to the majors in their late 20s. And a few coming back down. The ones that have a chance are the ones that got dropped from a pro minor league system (or missed getting drafted) and are still in their early 20s. We’ve seen better players get passed over as too old. Once you hit 26 or 27, you are pretty washed up - although you may still have your best minor league season in you.
The guys at Baseball Prospectus say statistically the average player peaks at 28.
Besides, swinging a bat was probably increasing his handicap. Few people can transition from a baseball swing to a golf swing.