Michael Jordan’s move from basketball to baseball was certainly a surprising one, especially because he was at the peak of his powers in the NBA. His foray into a new sport saw him receive various reactions from teammates in the minor leagues. And guess what? ESPN’s Curt Bloom has revealed the unique dynamics of having a global sporting icon like Jordan on a team that’s in the developmental ranks.

The former 6-time NBA champion’s stint in the world of baseball lasted for only one season in 1994, which, as of now, was 31 years ago. He joined the Birmingham Barons, a Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. Curt Bloom recently revealed during an interview that there were teammates on all sides of the spectrum when it comes to their feelings about having Michael Jordan on the team.

Insider reveals the mixed reactions to Michael Jordan’s foray into baseball

Curt Bloom claims that Michael Jordan’s joining the minor league team saw his team split into three groups, or, as the ESPN broadcaster put it, they were “split into thirds.” The first one is, of course, the group of players who were elated to have the former NBA star on their team, who were hoping that ‘MJ’ would take them to the big-time MLB. “One-third were excited and were happy to have him and be a good teammate. And if he helped get them to the big leagues, great,” Bloom stated on The Skylar Lara Podcast.

Well, Michael Jordan has had championship experience, so it wasn’t a surprise to see that some of the Barons players were hoping he’d do the same in baseball. Then came the second group of players, who showed no enthusiasm for Jordan shattering their years of hard work by getting to play in a Double-A outfit despite being a rookie. But then, the third group of players was rather nonchalant about the NBA legend’s addition to their team, and wanted to see what Jordan could do in baseball.

“There was a third that was negative, that was like, ‘This guy, I worked my butt off through high school, through college, through travel ball, and he was just handed the AA,'” Curt Bloom added. “And then, there were the ones that were somewhere in the middle. ‘Hey, might as well get an autograph. I’m with them. Might as well get whatever else I can get out of this.’ There was eight people who believed in it, eight people who didn’t believe it, and another eight that were kind of ‘let’s go with the flow.'”

While the reactions appeared to be mixed when Michael Jordan made his baseball debut, it appears that ‘MJ’ made some good friends during his time on the Birmingham Barons. Despite being the world’s biggest basketball star, Jordan rode buses, carried his own bags, and was always the first to arrive at the ballpark, per CBS. As former teammate Barry Johnson put it, “You could not beat him to the field…he was there, taking extra batting practice before batting practice.” His determination to improve even though he was 31 years old and far behind his peers in baseball experience was admired, if not always reflected in his stat line.

On the field, Jordan struggled. Over nearly 500 plate appearances, he hit just .202 with three home runs, though his athleticism and drive allowed him to make gradual improvements, particularly in shortening his swing to handle fastballs. Defensive lapses frustrated pitchers, but his teammates acknowledged his steady progress. Still, as Johnson admitted, “Some of the instinctive things were not quite there.” The larger question became whether Jordan’s passion and box-office presence might have earned him a spot in the majors as a role player. Even skeptics like All-Star catcher John Stearns conceded, “Michael can’t really play baseball, but he’s not terrible…You may take him as a 25th guy. Why not?”

And guess what? One of them, after a couple of decades, even went to claim that Jordan could have made his way to MLB. Let’s hear it from him.

Barry Johnson claims Jordan could have competed in baseball’s big leagues

It won’t be wrong to claim Michael Jordan’s single season with the Birmingham Barons wasn’t a successful one. But despite the underwhelming stats, his former teammate, Barry Johnson claimed that Jordan did show flashes of brilliance, and if he had continued, he could have made his way to MLB.

“If you look at what he accomplished during the Birmingham season, and if you look at the season as a whole, you zero in on the batting average, but seeing what kind of production he did from the midway point on, and then going out to the Fall League and competing against everyone’s top prospects and the numbers are even better,” Barry Johnson told CBS in 2020. “Being with him on a daily basis for six months, and knowing how much work he was putting into it … I don’t think it’s that big of a stretch to see him in a big-league uniform.”

Yet, Jordan’s baseball stint revealed a side of him that basketball rarely did—his willingness to be humbled, to start over, and to grind for respect. From asking a cashier if Gatorade outsold Pepsi, to ranting in the dugout, “Damn, you pitchers. What’s with this slider?” Michael Jordan’s failed attempt at baseball did not tarnish the things he achieved in basketball. But do you think he could have achieved the same on the pitch as much as he did in the court? Let us know in the comments down below.