BALTIMORE'S BRIAN JORDAN--TWO SPORT STAR
Brian O'Neal Jordan (born March 29, 1967) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and National Football League safety. In the NFL, he played for the Atlanta Falcons, while he played in the MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Texas Rangers.
Jordan was a sports star at Milford Mill High School in Baltimore, Maryland. After graduating from the University of Richmond, Jordan embarked on a dual baseball and football career. He was drafted in the first round of the 1988 MLB draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. In the 1989 NFL Draft, he was selected in the 7th round by the Buffalo Bills but was cut in training camp.
While climbing the ladder in the Cardinals' minor league system, Jordan played defensive back for the Falcons from 1989 to 1991. He had five interceptions and four sacks in his brief NFL career. He led Atlanta in tackles and was voted as an alternate to the National Football Conference Pro Bowl team during the 1991 season.
In June 1992 Jordan signed a new contract with St Louis that gave him a $1,700,000 signing bonus to give up football and play baseball exclusively, ending his football career.
Jordan made his Major League debut on April 8, 1992 with the Cardinals. He played mostly as a utility outfielder during his first three seasons, but in his first full year, in 1995, he had a deserving season. His stats included 145 hits, 20 doubles, and a .296 batting average in 490 at-bats. He also flashed his power by hitting 22 home runs and 81 RBIs. He built on his success in 1996, hitting .310 with 104 RBIs and a .349 on-base percentage, playing mostly as the right fielder and cleanup hitter for the Cardinals. Jordan posted a .422 batting average with runners in scoring position (RISP), which became the Cardinals' all-time highest mark (the statistics has been officially and reliably kept since 1974), until Allen Craig topped it in 2013. He also led the Major Leagues in batting average with the bases loaded. In the postseason that year, Jordan hit .333 in the NLDS and had a game-winning home run in Game 4 of the 1996 NLCS.
Shrugging off a relatively disastrous and injury-riddled 1997 season in which he hit .234 with no home runs, Jordan had possibly the best season of his career in 1998, his last year with St. Louis. He scored 100 runs, saw his power return with 25 home runs, and batted a career-high .316, with an outstanding .534 slugging percentage.
His stats in 1998 helped earn Jordan a $21.3 million contract with the Atlanta Braves. Jordan had a strong April and May to help carry the Braves early in the 1999 season. This propelled him to his only All-Star appearance. He finished the season with 100 runs again and drove in 115 runs. Jordan was a standout in the 1999 NLDS for the Braves against the Houston Astros. He batted .471, had the game-winning double in the 12th inning of Game 3, and drove in seven of Atlanta's 18 runs during the series. He contributed two home runs in the 1999 NLCS, but went 1 for 13 in his only World Series appearance.
Jordan's batting average and RBI totals dipped in 2000, but in 2001 Jordan hit 25 homers with a .295 average and was superb in the final games of the season, helping to push the Braves to their tenth-straight division title after a tight race with the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets.
He was involved in a blockbuster trade on January 15, 2002. Atlanta sent him to the Los Angeles Dodgers with pitcher Odalis Pérez for Gary Sheffield.
After a solid season in 2002 in which he hit .285, injuries significantly decreased Jordan's playing time in 2003. The aging Jordan signed a one-year contract with the Texas Rangers in 2004, but only batted .222 and again missed chunks of time with injuries. In 2005, he returned to the Braves, but he spent most of the season on the disabled list with left knee inflammation while rookie sensation Jeff Francoeur took over in right field. Relying more on his veteran savvy than athletic ability at this point, he made the team again in 2006, but was limited to a platoon role at first base before again going on the disabled list. Jordan retired as a player after the 2006 season.
Jordan currently serves as a TV pre-game analyst for the Atlanta Braves on Braves Live, the official pregame show on FSN South and SportSouth. He is active in the Atlanta community with the Brian Jordan Foundation and authored the semi-autobiographical children's book I Told You I Can Play! (Wikipedia)
Brian Jordan has top spot on 'what-if' list
July 01, 2000 by Ken Rosenthal
Brady Anderson would have moved to left field. Albert Belle would have signed with another club. Rafael Palmeiro might have stayed with the Orioles.
That is the domino effect that could have occurred if Baltimore native Brian Jordan had signed with the Orioles instead of the Atlanta Braves in November 1998.
"It changes history," said Frank Wren, the Orioles' former general manager. "It changes the whole dynamic of our club a year ago, the whole dynamic of the team going forward. He was a key player, a key part of what we were trying to accomplish."
But the Orioles didn't get him.
Jordan, 33, signed with the Braves largely because he wanted to live in Atlanta with his wife and two children. He also was disturbed by the uncertainty surrounding the Orioles, and the club's insistence that he accept deferred money with no interest as part of his deal.
The Orioles offered Jordan a five-year, $40 million contract. The Braves matched those terms without asking him to defer money. And within days after Jordan agreed to play right field for Atlanta, the face of the Orioles changed dramatically.
Rebuffed by Jordan, a Milford Mill High graduate with a shining personality, the Orioles opted for the glowering countenance of Belle, whom they signed to a club-record, five-year, $65 million contract.
Palmeiro, coming off the five greatest offensive seasons in Orioles history, considered the Belle deal a final affront and bolted for Texas. Anderson remained in center field, even though it no longer is his best position.
All because Brian Jordan wouldn't come home.
"When I first came over, I kidded with him," said Wren, who joined the Braves as an assistant GM after the Orioles fired him last October. "I said, `I thought we had you.' He said, `You about did. But my family living in Atlanta made it awfully appealing."
As Braves general manager John Schuerholz put it, "We had our hometown element, too."
Jordan, of course, made the right decision, even though he would have played center field in Baltimore, his preferred position. He set a career high with 115 RBIs and matched his career high with 100 runs scored last season. The Orioles crashed, and the Braves reached the World Series.
"At the time, I was living in Atlanta. I already had a home. All my kids were in school. It was just tough to pack and be away from the family again when you have an opportunity to play in the same place your family had set their roots.
"I love Baltimore. I miss Baltimore. But it was about winning, too. At the time, I felt the Orioles were in transition. The Atlanta Braves were an established organization. They had all their chips in place. I had a great opportunity to win. And the bottom line is everybody wants to win.`
Could Jordan have helped transform the Orioles into a contender these past two seasons? Probably not. But he would have made the team faster and more athletic, two goals that club officials are still trying to achieve.
Jordan also would have made the Orioles more likable, especially if he came as a package with Palmeiro. His price was $25 million below Belle's. The Orioles could have spent the extra money on Palmeiro and a pitcher. Jordan lobbied the Orioles to sign Palmeiro during his visit to Camden Yards.
It all seems so long ago. Jordan smiled as he recalled his visit, the elaborate video production, the live introduction by public-address announcer Dave Magowan, the fantasy home-run call by Orioles play-by-play man Jim Hunter, the taped messages from Jordan's friends, teachers and coaches at Milford Mill.
"Everybody wanted me to come back home. I was kind of eager to come home," said Jordan, whose parents live in Randallstown. "The Orioles really did it up when I came to visit. They went out of their way. They did a great job. I would have loved to have been the hometown boy coming back home. It would have been a great story."
But it wasn't meant to be.
"I thought we had a glimmer of hope," Wren said. "In talking to his representative, Jim Turner, I thought we were still in it, even up to the final morning."
It was the outcome the Orioles feared, the outcome that always seemed most likely. After he made his decision, Jordan reached out to Wren, almost apologetic.
"He was a great guy about it," Jordan said. "That's why he was the first guy I told when I made the decision. Usually, guys just leave GMs hanging. But I had my agent call him and let him know. He was such a great guy about it, I felt obligated."
Family came first. Family was the deciding factor. But if there's a lesson in all of this, it's that perhaps the Orioles should ease their stance on deferred money with no interest. Anderson, Belle and others accepted such a condition. But for potential free agent Mike Mussina, it's believed to be a stumbling block.
"It was an issue," said Jordan. "I feel like, I'm a college graduate [Jordan attended the University of Richmond]. The money I earn, I want to be able to invest myself. To defer my money without interest is not a good deal to me. I want to keep my money and invest it for the future of my family."
Whatever, Jordan is a Brave.
The dominoes fell, but not in the way the Orioles imagined.
"It turned out great for me," Jordan said. "I just brought my leadership qualities here."
