When Michael Jordan decided to give up his basketball career to try his hand at a different sport, fans were rather skeptical about the change. There is hardly anyone who would question Jordan’s legacy as a basketball player, but his baseball career was a completely different matter. From the very outset, MJ was widely criticized by certain media houses for his ‘poor’ play. However, one particular MLB icon recently spoke out in favor of the Chicago Bulls legend, thus debunking some of the previous claims against Jordan’s abilities.

Michael Jordan’s baseball stint only lasted for two years before he decided to make a comeback in the NBA. The 6x champion’s return to the league proved to be a golden opportunity for the Bulls to rise back up and win their second three-peat.

Michael Jordan exceeded expectations, according to MLB icon

Almost three decades after Michael Jordan decided to pursue a career in baseball, former MLB player Scott Emerson sat down for an extensive chat with Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. Emerson talked about the times he played against His Airness and shared his thoughts on his skills as well. The Oakland Athletics coach was asked to describe Jordan’s ‘look and move as a baseball player’. Emerson had nothing but praise for MJ while responding to Gallegos’ question.

He said, “We all thought, ‘Wow, this guy can play a little bit’. He could run. Later in the game, he hit a ball to short and got down the line really well. This guy floats. He’s got some power. Line-drive stroke probably. We all thought he would develop into a power hitter.”

Furthermore, Emerson said that if Jordan had put more time and energy in the game, he would have been a baseball Hall of Famer. The baseball veteran added, “But just watching that guy and being on the same field and being able to say I competed against Michael Jordan is a cool feeling. This guy, the Jordan brand, you say “Jordan” and everybody knows what you’re talking about.”

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An embarrassment to baseball?

In March 1994, Steve Wulf of Sports Illustrated published an article on Michael Jordan, criticizing him for playing baseball. In fact, Wulf’s sub-heading read, “Jordan and the White Sox are embarrassing baseball”. In the decades-old article, the sportswriter pointed out every small mistake that Jordan made to back up his claim. He mentioned how MJ referred to the first base umpire as ‘the ref’.

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A section of his article read, “Michael Jordan has no more business patrolling rightfield in Comiskey Park than Minnie Minoso has bringing the ball upcourt for the Chicago Bulls.”

Interestingly, during a 2020 interview with ESPN, Wulf expressed his regret for being too harsh on Jordan. Wulf said analysing the whole scenario in retrospect ‘…He wasn’t out to embarrass baseball. He was out to pursue a dream that we thought at the time was delusional, but we should not have come down on him that hard.’