It wasn't all bad for Jordan, though, as Bertotti and teammate Barry Johnson told Anderson the Bulls legend made noticeable strides as the season continued and was particularly determined to improve all while being "one of the guys" and carrying his bags, riding the buses and living the minor league life.

Both teammates praised Jordan for consistently being the first one in the clubhouse and continuously doing the extra work in batting practice and before games.

The work on making his swing more compact—which wasn't easy at 6'6"—contributed to the improvements he showed in the Arizona Fall League.

"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," Johnson said. "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 [was] that big of a stretch to see him in a big league uniform."

Francona also suggested Jordan would have eventually made it to the major leagues with enough time.

"I do think with another 1,000 at-bats, he would've made it," Francona said, per Steve Wulf of ESPN. "But there's something else that people miss about that season. Baseball wasn't the only thing he picked up. I truly believe that he rediscovered himself, his joy for competition. We made him want to play basketball again. And he made me a better manager."

Chris Landers of MLB.com wrote an article titled "MJ's baseball career wasn't the failure you think," pointing out there are few things more difficult in all of sports than hitting professional pitching. He was able to do that at an adequate level all while showing off impressive skills on the basepaths despite not playing organized baseball since high school.

Jordan even had the chance to play at legendary Wrigley Field in an exhibition game between the White Sox and Chicago Cubs. He hit an RBI double with Harry Caray on the call in a clip featuring two of the marquee names of Chicago sports in the 1990s.

It was surely one of the only times Cubs fans were actively cheering for a White Sox player.