The Chicago White Sox’ World Series MVP, Jermaine Dye, was a great player. We learned on Sunday night that he wanted to be “Like Mike”.
The Chicago White Sox had the luxury of being the organization that Michael Jordan played for during his hiatus from basketball. The Chicago Bulls superstar took some time away from the hoops to hit the diamond for a while. The White Sox aren’t the only connection that the team has to the Bulls, however. Their owner, Jerry Reinsdorf, also owns the Bulls. There is also an important player in White Sox history that wanted to be “Like Mike”.
Everybody wanted to be like Mike. Definitely my all time favorite athlete. He’s the reason I wore #23 with @whitesox in Chicago. I had worn #24 on every other team but felt it was only fitting to wear MJ’s number if I was going to play in the same city as my favorite player did.
— Jermaine Dye (@JermaineDye) April 20, 2020
As you can see in the tweet, Jermaine Dye grew up rooting for the great Michael Jordan. He claims in his tweet that he was his favorite player in all of the sports growing up. He wore number 24 with the Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Atlanta Braves. Then when he came to Chicago he wanted to wear number 23 because he wanted Jordan’s number while playing in the same city that he became the greatest.
Well, the number fit. In his time with the White Sox, he became a legend in the city as well. Not many players will ever leave a footprint as big as Jordan’s but this town does love its baseball. Well, Jermaine Dye was the World Series MVP in the first World Series title that was brought back to Chicago in almost a century.
Jermain Dye was one of many pro athletes and non-pro athletes that wanted to be “like Mike”. It was very common and rightfully so. He is the greatest basketball player who ever lived and one of the greatest team sports athletes who ever lived. There were kids all over the world who wanted to wear that legendary number 23 for a pro team. Well, Jermaine Dye got to do so and did it on the biggest stage for our favorite team.
Dye’s tweet was timely as it came not long after the second episode of “The Last Dance” came out. It is a ten-part documentary coming out on ESPN about the final season of the Bulls’ dynasty of the 90s. It was cool to see a White Sox great chime in with some thoughts about those great years to be a Chicago sports fan.