Michael Jordan, Baseball Player

ESPN has recently run a documentary in their ESPN 30 for 30 series about Michael Jordan's time in baseball called "Jordan Rides the Bus". It has garnered a lot of attention for one, being good and two, going against the popular belief that Jordan left basketball because of a gambling problem. Rather than talk about the rumors of why he went to baseball, how it changed his legacy, and all that, let's take a look at his numbers:

G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
127	497	436	46	88	17	1	3	51	30	18	51	114	0.202	0.289	0.266	0.556

Remember that's as a 31 year old playing in AA without having played baseball since high school, so in this case roughly at least 13 years. Now obviously the hitting is awful, Jordan didn't hit for average, didn't hit for power and struck out a good amount. However, there are some interesting things to consider:

BB%- 10.2%
BABIP- .264
SB- 30

For not having played baseball for at least 13 years, I find a 10.2 BB% to be quite outstanding. To have a patient approach like that after all that time off and never really playing competitive baseball is quite something. There are great players today in the MLB who can't even sniff a BB% that good. Also, although to really look into BABIP you need several seasons of data, it's interesting that Jordan's BABIP of .264 (below average) could mean that he was a little unlucky. Even though Jordan didn't have a great stealing success rate (62.5%) he still stole 30 bases as a 31 year old in less than 500 PA, that shows what kind of speed he had.

If Jordan decided to play baseball instead of basketball coming out of college, I think it's safe to say he'd have the pretty patient approach that he displayed combined with top speed which would likely make him (at least project him as) a great fielder at CF or RF. Also, Jordan was (and still is) essentially the most competitive athlete of all time, and always tried to improve his game. Although he only had 3 HR, at 6'6'' 205 pounds and by all accounts one of the best athletes ever, I think it's safe to say that he could and would develop power, become a better fielder, and hone is base stealing ability if given time given his competitive spirit.

Baseball is also a game where it could pay off to be selfish. In basketball you still have to share the ball and help your teammates. In Bill Simmons' great book on basketball, Simmon's mentions how in practice Jordan would occasionally try so hard he'd sometimes embarrass his teammates to their detriment. But like I said, in baseball that kind of attitude could pay off where you are essentially accountable to only yourself. For instance, Jordan dunking on Scottie Pippen 15 times in practice could get in Pippen's head, I don't see how Jordan hitting monster homeruns in batting practice would adversely affect the team. So, if Jordan was a 21 year old baseball prospect, I think it's safe to say he would project to be a potential 5-tool player along the likes of Grady Sizemore (when he was good), Justin Upton, or Matt Kemp. When you add in his determination and competitive spirit, I don't see any reason why you couldn't expect him to reach that potential, and knowing Jordan, likely even more.