The Barons don't play at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium anymore. But until they shifted to Regions Field in downtown Birmingham in 2013, the facilities Florida State League Iron On Transfers at the outdated ballpark
south of the city paid homage to some of the greats who had passed through.
There was the Rollie Fingers Bullpen Deck, named for the Hall of Fame reliever
who experienced pitched for the A's farm club there in 1967 and '68, and the
Robin Ventura Pavilion, honoring the third baseman who had been a Baron in 1989
before getting called up to the Chicago White Sox, and the Frank Thomas Picnic
Area, dedicated to the Hall of Fame slugger who put a Double-A Hurt on Southern
League pitchers in 1990. The dining facility? Well, that International
League Iron On Transfers bore the name of a certain, .202-hitting right
fielder for the 1994 Barons. There was a particular delicious irony to calling
it The Eastern
League Iron On Transfers Michael Jordan Banquet Hall. After all, he started
quite a feeding frenzy on the night of April 8, 1994, at the Hoover Met when he
made his official professional baseball debut. Wearing No. 45, his previous
Laney (North Carolina) High number, the 31-year-old émigré from basketball drew
a crowd of 10,359, along with 130 people of the media. They watched him fly out
in his first at-bat against Chattanooga starter John Courtright. For the night
time, and for the record, he went 0-for-3 in a 10-3 loss to the Lookouts. The
masses went home mildly disappointed. Jordan is long gone from Birmingham, and
so are most of the players and coaches who also wore the Barons uniform that
season. The skipper, Terry Francona, is now in his 20th calendar year of
managing in the bigs, with Hall of Fame credentials that include the breaking of
the Boston Reddish colored Sox's 86-year curse in 2004, another World Series
trophy three years later and another trip to the Fall Classic with his current
team, the Indians. Of the players on that '94 roster, 20 were either coming down
from, or going up to the majors. Jordan never made it to the bigs, but at least
he could console himself with his and the Chicago Bulls' second Liga
Mexicana de Beisbol Iron On Transfers NBA three-peat.