There was no scoreboard, no dugouts and only two umpires on the field where Jordan played Monday. Not that there was any less pressure on baseball's most-recognized rookie.
As expected, the Chicago White Sox reassigned Jordan to their minor league camp. He was not sent to a specific level, and general manager Ron Schueler hopes to know in a week where the outfielder will start the season.
"I don't feel disappointed, because what I tried to do was a long shot by any standards," Jordan said. Jordan, a three-time Most Valuable Player in the National Basketball Association, went 3-for-20 in 13 exhibition games for the White Sox, and hit the ball out of the infield just three times.
He will be allowed to stay in the major-league locker room rather than the small, cramped quarters of the minor leaguers, mostly for security reasons.
Because he likely will not be on the road, Jordan won't have to ride the dented school bus the White Sox use to shuttle their minor leaguers to games. The bus has tattered seat covers, two cracked windows and no air conditioning.
"I've always been a team guy. I never tried to separate myself," he said. "But when it gets to 16- or 18-hour bus rides, I hope they can go with me," perhaps on a plane, Jordan joked.
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