Hey, you know all the hubbub last week about Michael Jordan’s 50th birthday? Yeah…it’s still going on.
The Joliet Slammers of the independent Frontier League have offered the 50-year-old former NBA superstar (and onetime Chicago White Sox minor leaguer) a baseball contract.
“Who knows how the book is written if there was no Major League Baseball strike in 1994?” team general manager Chris Franklin said. “It worked out pretty well for Michael and basketball fans around the world, but we would like to offer MJ the opportunity to write the final chapter by playing baseball for the Joliet Slammers or, at the very least, honor him in a way nobody else has.”
And in case you’re wondering where Joliet, Illinois is in proximity of the Windy City…it is 45 miles south of the United Center.
“There are a lot of loyal Chicago Bulls and White Sox fans who I believe would fully support his decision to come back to the game of baseball,” Franklin said. “When he started with the White Sox, hitting coach Walt Hriniak asked him if he was serious about playing baseball. Michael may ask us the same question Walt asked him and we have the same answer he did. Dead, dead serious.”
You can only assume the Slammers are just as serious.
The team is offering Jordan the league maximum contract of $1600 per month with $20 daily meal money and a host family if needed. Although that’s probably unlikely given Jordan still has a home in the area. The Slammers would also be willing to provide Jordan with a Loaded Luxury Suite for 23 people that includes all-you-can-eat and drink hamburgers, hot dogs, pasta salad, mustard potato salad, baked beans, cookies and Pepsi products for 90 minutes every game.
Mustard potato salad AND baked beans…how can he pass this up?!?
If you ask me, it looks like the Slammers are throwing a lot out there for a 50-year-old who, in one season of minor league baseball hit .202, but then again…what do I know?
“Again, we’re serious about giving Michael the opportunity to play professional baseball with the Slammers this summer,” Franklin said. “We do have an age limit in our league, but like Nike and the red and black Air Jordan’s his rookie year in the NBA, we’ll take the fine. There are dozens of gimmicks we could throw out there in the offer, but we’re playing by the rules and think he would respect that. It could be one last challenge for the greatest competitor of all time.”
I can only assume Jordan will not be responding to (much less accepting this offer) any time soon.
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