Birmingham Barons trainer Steve Davis tried to explain the level of attention Barons player and Michael Jordan was receiving and he could only compare it to that of Bo Jackson on a rehab assignment, according to The Raleigh News and Observer.
Only Jordan's attention didn't really compare with Jackson's.
"It's three times bigger than it was with Bo Jackson," Davis said, according to The News and Observer.
Davis' time as a minor league trainer in the White Sox organization spanned the early 1990s. He saw time at both high-A Sarasota, at AA Birmingham and even in Venezuela.
Davis started at the University of South Alabama, where he graduated with a degree in sports injury management, The Fort Pierce Tribune wrote.
He started as a trainer in the pros with the Twins and then with the White Sox. He arrived with the White Sox by 1989, where he served as trainer at single-A Sarasota. He then joined the Senior Professional Baseball Association and the St. Lucie Legends that fall.
"It's a new experience," Davis told The Tribune as St. Lucie training camp started. "I look forward to working with former great players."
Davis returned to Sarasota for 1990 and he was back there for 1991. In June 1991, Davis encountered one of his players, Mike Eatinger, as Eatinger went to reveal his lymphoma diagnosis.
"I was relieved when Steve said he'd go out to the field with me," Eatinger recounted to The Riverside Press-Enterprise. I had to be led from one direction to another. I was hurting for some help."
That September, he and the Sarasota manager and pitching coach were tapped to head to Venezuela that fall.
For 1992, he arrived at AA Birmingham for 1992. He remained there for 1994 and the arrival of Jordan.
That August, Davis spoke to The Chicago Tribune about the team's famous outfielder returning from an injured shoulder.
"He has made remarkable progress and will be evaluated on a daily basis by his doctors," Davis told The Tribune of Jordan. "He will go through his rehab exercises again tonight and will be looked at by the doctors after the game."
- Fort Pierce Tribune, Oct. 16, 1989: Trainer waiting for Legends after they arrive in camp
- St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Riverside Press-Enterprise, June 30, 1991: Cancer: A Baseball Player Tells About The Impact
- Raleigh News and Observer, April 13, 1994: Von Jordan noblest Baron of them all
- Chicago Tribune, Aug. 19, 1994: Jordan gets OK to resume play
Made the Majors:1,285-33.7%
Never Made Majors:2,526-66.3%-X
5+ Seasons in the Majors:526
10+ Seasons in the Minors:320
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