A-Rod: Jordan's baseball foray among his 'greatest accomplishments'

Legendary slugger Alex Rodriguez believes that Michael Jordan doesn't get enough credit for his 1994 foray into professional baseball.

"I thought that what he tried to do in baseball is one of the greatest accomplishments in his career," Rodriguez said, according to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. "He's getting on a bus and playing Double-A. That's one of the hardest leagues to play in because that's where all the great pitching goes, the fireballers throwing north of 95 miles an hour. The weather was north of 95 degrees, and you're on buses, not on planes."

The former New York Yankees, Seattle Mariners, and Texas Rangers star said Jordan's numbers were underappreciated because of his lofty standards on the hardwood.

"Unfortunately, the benchmark as a great, Hall of Fame hitter is .300," the 14-time All-Star said. "Because you're Michael Jordan, you're going to be judged on a completely unfair barometer. For him to have a hitting streak, to hit north of .200, and to steal so many bases, I just thought it was remarkable."

Jordan slashed .202/.289/.266 with three homers and 30 steals over 127 games with the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. He returned to the Chicago Bulls in 1995 to lead the team to its second three-peat of the decade.