That time Michael Jordan made Cubs fans cheer the White Sox at Wrigley Field

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What’s weirder than Michael Jordan leaving his life as the world’s greatest basketball player to play minor league baseball?

How about a bizarre in-season exhibition game between the White Sox at Cubs at Wrigley Field — one where North Side fans cheered the visitors?

Well, they cheered for one visitor, at least.

Back before Interleague play was a part of the daily major league schedule, if the crosstown rival White Sox and Cubs were going to play each other, it was going to have to be in the World Series — or more likely in an exhibition contest. So with a mutual off day in early April, they played a game that didn’t count at the Friendly Confines.

This happened while the regular season was going on, something that is downright unthinkable today.

Anyway, Jordan, who was about to make his way to Birmingham, Ala., for a season of Double-A baseball, was in the White Sox lineup that day. And he delivered, big time, with a pair of RBI hits, including a game-tying double that sent the exhibition to its final score of 4-all.

Darrin Jackson, the former White Sox outfielder and current broadcaster, was in the White Sox lineup that day, too, scoring on one of Jordan’s hits.

“It was fun because now I get to see Michael actually play full speed in a big league stadium that’s sold out. He rose to the occasion,” Jackson told Our Chuck Garfien on the White Sox Talk Podcast. “It was fun to see that.

“It’s Michael Jordan. Playing in front of crowds is one thing in basketball. Playing in front of a crowd in baseball when you’re trying to prove to people this isn’t a joke? You put pressure on yourself. It’s not as easy because he was taking this seriously.

“For him to come through as he did in the game and enjoy the crowd and be part of something that was really big at that time, making sure that everybody worldwide got to see him in a big league venue and it wasn’t an embarrassment at all, that was pretty good.”

But perhaps the weirdest thing of the entire day? Cubs fans cheering for the White Sox. Well, kind of.

“What I remember of that, they were cheering Michael Jordan, yes,” Jackson said. “They weren’t cheering the jersey he was wearing. But he is Michael Jordan. He is Chicago. So yes, they were cheering him, right up until he hit a double and drove me in as part of his double. They weren’t real happy about the success there, but it’s still Michael Jordan. He’s not going to fail in front of the Chicago fans.”

For more behind-the-scenes tales from Michael Jordan's baseball career, listen to this recent edition of the White Sox Talk Podcast.

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