Bill Hardekopf remembers when his life and that of the Birmingham Barons franchise he led changed forever.

It was the day that the world learned that Michael Jordan was going to spend the summer playing Minor League Baseball.

“I’m not exaggerating here at all,” said Hardekopf, the former Barons general manager. “At 8:05, cars started streaming into the Hoover Met parking lot to come buy tickets. That parking lot stream, that stream into the parking lot never stopped until midnight that night.

“When things changed, it was at 7:30 that morning,” he said. “Well, really at 8 o’clock, when they made that announcement. It was an immediate, immediate impact.”

Jonathan Nelson, the Barons GM today, was in charge of group ticket sales three decades ago when the Barons called the Hoover Met their home. Like Hardekopf, he remembers that day vividly.

“When I showed up at the ballpark the next day, there were lines or cars and people outside the Barons front office that were looking to buy tickets and looking to buy merchandise and looking to just really buy whatever they could in regards to preparations for Michael Jordan’s existence in Birmingham.”

Nelson was so busy after opening a ticket window the only thing he got to eat was a slice of pizza a colleague brought to him. It was a sign of things to come for the entire season – the “Season of Jordan.” This is the 30^th anniversary of the summer no one could imagine and no one who lived it could forget.

A photo shows Jonathan Nelson, current general manager of the Birmingham Barons, during the 1994 season, when Michael Jordan played for the team. Nelson was in charge of group ticket sales at the time and had a busy season. (contributed)

It was the season when the eyes of the world were focused on Birmingham, Alabama, and Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.

“He was one of, if not the most famous athletes in the world,” Hardekopf said of Jordan. “Other than Muhammad Ali, I cannot think of a more famous athlete throughout the world than Michael Jordan was, especially in 1994.”

Jordan was coming off three straight NBA Championships for the Chicago Bulls. And he was on TV everywhere as the spokesman for everything from Nike to Gatorade, Chevrolet to McDonald’s, Wheaties to Hanes.

“He was the athlete, and not just in our country but throughout the world,” the former Barons general manager said. “That’s why six foreign correspondents were sent here to cover him on opening night, and there were (journalists from) several other countries who came here throughout the year, the season. He was just that popular. It’s still mind-boggling 30 years later for each of us.”

Curt Bloom calls the action during a Barons game at Regions Field. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama News Center)

Curt Bloom, who is still the radio voice of the Barons, was sure it was an elaborate prank.

“Up until I physically, physically saw him walk through the door,” Bloom said. “I remember being upstairs because they were getting ready for one of his first press conferences. I was in the radio booth and I’m like, ‘This is happening. This is really happening.’

“Realistically,” Bloom said, “I didn’t think with an hour to go that this was going to happen.”

Rubin Grant covered the Barons for the Birmingham Post-Herald. He wasn’t surprised when Japanese writers came to the Hoover Met since the club was then owned by a Japanese company.

“But the one that really got me was the guy who came over to chronicle what Jordan was doing from Israel, from Tel Aviv,” Grant recalled. “I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. Israel? Really? For baseball and Michael Jordan?’ There was nothing like that, ever.”

Having Michael Jordan on the Barons roster drew crowds that had not been seen at a Barons game since the 1940s. The 1994 Barons drew 467,867 fans to the Hoover Met, an average of 6,983 over 67 home dates.

“We broke our Barons attendance record in ’94; I believe the previous was in, like, ’48,” Nelson said. “The ’94 attendance record still stands. We were on pace (to break it) in 2014 but didn’t overtake it.”

The Barons also established the single-season attendance record in the Southern League during the 1994 campaign. The Barons hold the top three season-long attendance marks in the league.

The Hoover Met was uniquely designed to provide sufficient security for the world’s most famous athlete. Hardekopf said a special space was established beyond the left field fence for Jordan to park his car. Other Double-A players simply pulled into the cavernous lot, confident that no one would know the vehicle belonged to a ballplayer.

“But Michael’s 911 Turbo Porsche kind of stood out,” he laughed, recalling a day that Jordan, late for batting practice, parked in front of the stadium. “It could have been his license plate that said MJ23, too.”

In no time, the car was surrounded by fans. The general manager told the infamous outfielder that his car needed to be moved. Jordan responded by tossing Hardekopf the keys for him to move the vehicle.

“It was one thing after the other … interesting things that would happen that were once in a lifetime,” he said. “Who would think that a player’s car would have to be secured every night? But it had to be.”

A larger-than-life poster of Michael Jordan hangs at Regions Field. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama News Center)

The popularity of Jordan and the Barons only ratcheted up when Major League Baseball players went on strike on Aug. 12, 1994. That created a perfect storm for drawing remarkable crowds, both at home and away.

“When the Majors went on strike, even more attention was focused on the Birmingham Barons and Michael Jordan,” Hardekopf said. “Our games were broadcast on ESPN, I believe, four different times that year. Three times from the Hoover Met, I think once on the road. It was not only surreal, but it just kept building.”

“It just ramped up at that time,” the former general manager said. “Even more so, I don’t think any of us thought more of the eyes of the baseball world – of the sports world – could get more focused on Birmingham, but they did once Major League Baseball went on strike.”

All this for a baseball player whose statistics were less than stellar. Jordan batted .202 in 1994 with 88 hits out of 436 at-bats. He hit three home runs, one triple, 17 doubles and drove in 51 runs. The outfielder stole 30 bases in his lone season, walked 51 times and had 114 strikeouts.

Wayne Martin, a longtime sportswriter for The Birmingham News who covered Minor League Baseball in Birmingham, still has a copy of the news release that he got Jordan to sign that said His Airness was coming to Birmingham. He annually nominates the all-time basketball great for a spot in the Barons Hall of Fame.

“In my mind, he performed well enough to be (in the Barons Hall of Fame), considering his background,” Martin said. “He hadn’t played baseball since he was in high school, and he started out on the Double-A level. He hit .202 with three home runs and led the team in stolen bases.

“I think a guy that can hit .200 (after) not having played for however many years … I think he’s very deserving of being in the Hall of Fame.”