Michael Jordan wore uniform number 45 while playing for the Birmingham Barons. The number connected his short baseball career to both his past and his future: 45 was the number he had worn as a baseball player at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina.
Jordan joined the Barons in 1994 after stepping away from basketball following his father’s death and the Chicago Bulls’ third straight NBA championship. The Birmingham club was the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, whose owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, also owned the Bulls. Jordan played outfield and appeared in 127 games, collecting 88 hits, 51 runs batted in, 30 stolen bases, and three home runs while batting .202.
The number is sometimes confused with 23, Jordan’s famous Bulls number, or with 35, which he wore briefly for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League. When he returned to the Bulls in March 1995, he initially wore 45 because 23 had been retired in Chicago. He later switched back to 23 during the 1995 playoffs.