M.J. Turned Down MLB Offer From Oakland A's To 'do the baseball thing from the ground up'

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As you recall, Michael Jordan abruptly retired from the NBA before the 1993 season and signed a deal to play professional baseball in the Chicago White Sox organization. After spring training, Jordan was assigned to the Double-A Birmingham Barons, never got called up to the majors and later left to rejoin the Bulls. The rest is history. However, according to former Oakland Athletics general manager Sandy Alderson, the A's did offer him a spot on their MLB roster. Per MLB...

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“That’s one that got away,” Alderson told ESPN’s Buster Olney. “It would have been fun, but it didn’t come to fruition. It wouldn’t have won us a World Series.”

Though Falk confirmed the offer to MLB.com, he said it, unlike a Jordan dunk, never really got off the ground.

“I was excited about [the offer], and Michael was very appreciative,” Falk said. “But he wanted to do the baseball thing from the ground up. He didn’t feel he deserved a spot on the Major League roster and didn’t feel he was ready. He didn’t want to be a Herb Washington type who would just steal bases and be a part-time outfielder.”

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