Michael Jordan is the NBA GOAT, and no words can do justice to what he has done. He changed basketball as a whole by winning six NBA titles and making 14 All-Star teams. But he didn’t just do great things on the basketball court. In fact, the first time he met Derek Jeter, who would later become a Yankees legend, was when Jordan played for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.
In a recent interview with Drink Champs, Derek Jeter talked about MJ’s baseball career and revealed some shocking things to shut down the people who had bad things to say about Jordan’s baseball career.
How successful was MJ’s career in the ballpark?
In the interview, Derek Jeter was asked if his good friend Michael Jordan was a good baseball player. Right away, Jeter says, “Yes!” and then talks about how Jordan was criticized for leaving the NBA too quickly after winning three World Championships. Also, Jordan’s numbers in the minor league were not as good as they could have been. But Derek Jeter didn’t think that.
The Yankees’ longest-serving captain detailed how a player would progress to the MLB after completing different professional baseball steps. Derek Jeter said “You have the rookie ball, Low A, High A, Double A, Triple A, and then you get to the Major Leagues. Once you get to double A, the biggest jump is from High A to Double-A. And if he can play in Double-A baseball, you can play in the Major Leagues.”
Following this, Derek Jeter instantly dives into praises for Jordan and says, “He went from little leagues to double-A and hit 0.200. And that’s not easy to do. It’s tough to do. And people just watch something on television and be like ‘because you’re great at one sport it doesn’t translate into another’ – it doesn’t happen like that.”
Finally, Derek Jeter shut down Jordan’s baseball critics saying, “So Michael was a lot better than people gave him credit for. And if he played longer, I think he would’ve just continued to improve.”
Why did Michael Jordan quit baseball?
Jordan was in the Minor Leagues with the Birmingham Barons and the Scottsdale Scorpions. However, he left baseball a year after joining it due to the 1995 players’ strike. In addition, he was concerned about becoming a substitute player in the Major League.
In the end, he gave up baseball and went back to the court, where he won three more NBA titles. How good would Jordan be a totally different sport, hadn’t he left the baseball field?
What do you think about MJ’s baseball potential? Leave your comment below.
