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The Only Father's Day Gift Michael Jordan Could Give (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Ah, Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Alice Irrazari and.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: I'm Andrew Davis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: It is easier for people to understand no matter where
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: in the world they live.
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  Speaker 1: He was the most famous person in the world. He
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  Speaker 1: was the best at what he did. He was young,
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  Speaker 1: with many great years ahead of him. He was rich
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  Speaker 1: and powerful. He could have done anything he wanted. But
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  Speaker 1: then something terrible happened that forever changed his life. He
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  Speaker 1: had to do something to fix what happened, but there
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  Speaker 1: was no way to repair the damage. He had to
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  Speaker 1: live with it. He did not know how. The only
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  Speaker 1: thing he could think of to deal with the pain
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  Speaker 1: was to play baseball.
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  Speaker 2: Today's Spotlight looks at the year when Michael Jordan decided
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  Speaker 2: to stop playing basketball and play baseball instead. Jordan was
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  Speaker 2: a basketball player for the Chicago Bulls during the nineteen
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  Speaker 2: eighties and nineteen nineties.
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  Speaker 1: Jordan played basketball in the National Basketball Association for NBA.
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  Speaker 1: Basketball is a team sport played with a ball and
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  Speaker 1: a hoop.
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  Speaker 2: From nineteen ninety one to nineteen ninety three, Jordan led
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  Speaker 2: the Chicago Bulls to three straight championships. He was the
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  Speaker 2: best player in the NBA. Many believed he was the
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: best player of all time. Larry Bird played for the
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  Speaker 2: Boston Celtics against Jordan's balls. Bird was one of the
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  Speaker 2: greatest basketball players ever. Bird once said after a game
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  Speaker 2: against Jordan.
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  Speaker 3: That was not Michael Jordan out there.
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  Speaker 2: That was God hiding as Michael Jordan.
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  Speaker 1: After his third championship, Jordan was tired from playing so
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  Speaker 1: much basketball. He had nothing left to prove. He had
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  Speaker 1: already done everything he wanted to do in the NBA.
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  Speaker 1: He was thinking about retiring from basketball.
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  Speaker 2: On July twenty third, nineteen ninety three, Jordan's father, James,
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  Speaker 2: was driving home from Wilmington, North Carolina, in the United
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  Speaker 2: States to Charlotte, North Carolina. It was over a three
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  Speaker 2: hour drive. James had been as a friend's funeral and
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  Speaker 2: left late that night. During his drive, he became too
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  Speaker 2: tired and pulled over to the side of the road
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  Speaker 2: to sleep.
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  Speaker 1: Two teenagers, Larry Demrie and Daniel Green, saw the car.
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  Speaker 1: One of the windows was rolled down. They decided to
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  Speaker 1: tie James up and steal his car, but James woke up.
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  Speaker 1: The two young men shot James in the chest and
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  Speaker 1: killed him. They drove away and later dumped James's body
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  Speaker 1: in a small river.
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  Speaker 2: James's body was not discovered for a few weeks. Police
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  Speaker 2: found the body and identified James by looking at his teeth.
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  Speaker 2: Police caught Demriy and Green because they made several calls
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  Speaker 2: on James's car phone. Police connected the two teenagers to
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  Speaker 2: the calls and arrested them. Demriy and Green were later
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  Speaker 2: sent to prison for the rest of their lives.
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  Speaker 1: Jordan and his father had been very close. His father
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  Speaker 1: came to as many of Jordan's schemes as possible. He
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  Speaker 1: gave Jordan guidance and was always willing to listen to
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  Speaker 1: whatever problems Jordan was dealing with.
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  Speaker 2: Jordan did not know what to do. He did not
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  Speaker 2: feel like playing basketball anymore, but he was still young
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  Speaker 2: and restless. He missed his father. He needed to do
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  Speaker 2: something to feel the emptiness that he felt. Jordan decided
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  Speaker 2: that what he did next should be for his father,
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  Speaker 2: not for himself.
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  Speaker 1: Jordan's father had always loved baseball. He had tried to
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  Speaker 1: persuade Jordan to play baseball instead of basketball. His father
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  Speaker 1: had hoped that one day Jordan would try to play
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  Speaker 1: baseball again. Three months after his father's death, Jordan announced
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  Speaker 1: that he was retiring from basketball. A few months later,
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  Speaker 1: he agreed to play baseball for the Chicago White Sox organization.
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  Speaker 2: Baseball is a team sport played with a batter of ball.
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  Speaker 2: It's played on a large field. The players score by
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  Speaker 2: hitting the ball and running around the field.
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  Speaker 1: Jerry Reinsdorf owned both the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago
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  Speaker 1: White Sox. He wanted Jordan to succeed in baseball. He
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  Speaker 1: liked Jordan. He knew that he could make money if
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  Speaker 1: Jordan did well in baseball.
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  Speaker 2: Before Jordan could play for the Chicago White Sox in
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  Speaker 2: Major League Baseball, he had to start with the Birmingham
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  Speaker 2: Barons in the Double A level of the minor leagues.
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  Speaker 2: Minor League baseball had over one hundred and twenty teams
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  Speaker 2: across the United States and Canada. Major League Baseball teams
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  Speaker 2: control these minor league teams. Players improve their baseball skills
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  Speaker 2: in the minor leagues in hopes of reaching Major League Baseball.
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  Speaker 2: There are several levels in the minor leagues that get
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  Speaker 2: harder to test a player's ability.
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  Speaker 1: Reinsdorf got one of the White Sox managers and one
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  Speaker 1: of their players to spend extra time teaching Jordan. The manager,
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  Speaker 1: Herm Schneider said.
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  Speaker 4: Jordan was a great basketball player when it came to baseball.
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  Speaker 4: He was in New Territory. He loved baseball, but he
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  Speaker 4: did not necessarily understand how to move his body, so
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  Speaker 4: we had to teach him.
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  Speaker 2: They taught Jordan baseball skills. They showed him the correct
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  Speaker 2: way to hold a baseball. They taught him how to
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  Speaker 2: move his feet in the outfield when he played defense.
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  Speaker 2: Jordan learned how to use a bat. He learned how
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  Speaker 2: to run around the field.
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  Speaker 1: Jordan had to prove to the coaches, fans, and other
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  Speaker 1: players that he deserved to be on the Baron's team.
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  Speaker 1: Some people said that Jordan should not have been given
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  Speaker 1: a place on a minor line league team. They believed
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  Speaker 1: he only got a chance because his popularity would make
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  Speaker 1: more people come to games. They thought Jordan was too
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  Speaker 1: old to try to become a major league baseball player.
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  Speaker 2: On average, a player spent three to five years in
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  Speaker 2: the minor leagues before he reached major league baseball. Some
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  Speaker 2: players never made it to major league baseball. Jordan was
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  Speaker 2: already thirty one years old when he started playing in
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  Speaker 2: the minor leagues. Even if he made it to Major
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  Speaker 2: League Baseball, he would not be able to play long
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  Speaker 2: before his age affected his skills.
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  Speaker 1: Jordan worked as hard and as fast as he could
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  Speaker 1: to improve at baseball. During his only full season in
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  Speaker 1: the minor leagues, he played one hundred and twenty seven
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  Speaker 1: games with the Barons. He only had eighty eight hits
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  Speaker 1: in over four hundred times he came to bed, but
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: his speed helped him run the bases well. Jordan's hitting
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  Speaker 1: also improved over the season.
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  Speaker 2: Four hundred and sixty seven thousand fans came to see
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  Speaker 2: the Barons with Jordan. The team set minor league attendance records.
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  Speaker 2: Jordan got a new bus for the Barons to take
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  Speaker 2: to games. Jordan stayed after games to sign his name
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  Speaker 2: for fans. David Schaeffer, the Chicago White Sox director of
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  Speaker 2: park operations, said.
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  Speaker 3: It was hard to believe Jordan would be at the
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  Speaker 3: game all day in extreme heat, the sun would be out,
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  Speaker 3: he would stand there and just sign and sign and
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  Speaker 3: sign things for fans. Everybody else had already cleaned up
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  Speaker 3: and gone home, but Jordan would be standing there every day.
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  Speaker 1: After his season with the Barons, Jordan played in the
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  Speaker 1: Arizona Fall League. His hitting improved, Jordan started trusting that
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: he could play baseball well.
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  Speaker 2: Then Major League Baseball had a strike from August of
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  Speaker 2: nineteen ninety four to April of nineteen ninety five. A
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  Speaker 2: strike meant that major league players refused to play games
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  Speaker 2: until their demands were accepted by owners. The strike did
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  Speaker 2: not affect Jordan and the other minor league players.
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  Speaker 1: But in the spring of nineteen ninety five, major league
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  Speaker 1: teams began moving minor league players up to the major
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  Speaker 1: leagues to fill empty spots on teams left by the strike.
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  Speaker 1: Jordan did not want to move up this way. He
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  Speaker 1: only wanted to play in the major leagues if he
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  Speaker 1: earned a place on a team, not because a better
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  Speaker 1: player was on strike. Jordan also wanted to respect the
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  Speaker 1: Players Union, the organization represented the players on strike.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Unsure of how long the strike would last, Jordan decided
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  Speaker 2: to play basketball again for the Chicago Bulls. He missed
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  Speaker 2: basketball Somewhere during the year of riding on a bus
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  Speaker 2: to play minor league baseball games, he found the joy
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  Speaker 2: and desire to return to basketball. Jordan later said, I.
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  Speaker 4: Was on top for so long in basketball that I
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  Speaker 4: forgot about the steps to get to that. That is
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  Speaker 4: what minor league baseball did to me.
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  Speaker 1: Jordan never made it to major league baseball like his
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  Speaker 1: father had hoped, but he tried as hard as he could.
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  Speaker 1: He wanted to see if he could do it, But
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  Speaker 1: mostly Jordan wanted to say thank you to his father.
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  Speaker 2: Jordan could not ask his father questions anymore, he could
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  Speaker 2: not eat dinner with him after games. Jordan told the
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  Speaker 2: world how much his father meant to him by playing
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  Speaker 2: his father's favorite game, even though some said he should
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  Speaker 2: not do it. Others made fun of him for struggling
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  Speaker 2: at baseball, but Jordan would not listen. He wanted to
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  Speaker 2: give his father one last gift. Jordan understood that it
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  Speaker 2: was a gift for each of them.
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  Speaker 1: Did you know Michael Jordan tried to play baseball? Do
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  Speaker 1: you think he could have played Major League baseball if
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  Speaker 1: he had not returned to basketball. What is your favorite
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  Speaker 1: memory of your father? You can leave a comment on
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com. You
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: x You can also get Spotlight episodes delivered directly to
• 11:56
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• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Spotlight English app.
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  Speaker 2: The writer of this episode was Peter Anderson. The producer
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: was Mityo Ozarki. The voices you heard were from the
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  Speaker 2: United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted
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  Speaker 2: for this episode and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: artificial intelligence was used in this episode. Spotlight episodes are written, voiced,
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  Speaker 2: and produced by real people for real people, no matter
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  Speaker 2: where in the world they live. This episode is called
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  Speaker 2: the Only Father's Day Gift Michael Jordan could give.
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  Speaker 1: We hope you can join us again for the next
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  Speaker 1: Spotlight episode. Goodbye