Tim Gillis once stood on the opposite team of Michael Jordan.
Yes, that Michael Jordan, the famous name ranking tops on the list of greatest basketball players ever.
But the Crestview baseball coach wasn’t challenging MJ on the hardwood. This was Jordan’s baseball experiment, 1994, and Gillis was a member of the Atlanta Braves’ Double A team, the Greenville (S.C.) Braves.
Jordan was on the Chicago White Sox’s Birmingham (Ala.) Barons.
They were both Southern League squads. Jordan batted .202. Gillis, a third baseman and first baseman, hit .241.
“We played him quite a few times,” said Gillis, a 1985 graduate of Crestview High and college baseball stud at Livingston University, which is now University of West Alabama.
“I got to know him a little bit. He’s a really classy guy. He was awesome.”
Gillis played in the Braves organization for five seasons, including a 1992 year of 21 home runs and 87 RBIs.
Now he’s in his 17th season coaching Crestview baseball and 14th year as head coach. Add in his 15 seasons as a football assistant, and Gillis is Crestview through and through.
In fact, he gives a nod to his hometown city in the first question of the Coach Spotlight feature.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
“This is going to sound crazy but this (Crestview) is the only place I’d like to live.”
What is your biggest pet peeve?
“Lack of effort.”
What is the biggest challenge of the coaching profession?
“Maybe trying to get people to buy into the team concept. That’s the thing you have to work on the most.”
What is your favorite part of being a coach?
“I love seeing young people succeed.”
What is your proudest coaching accomplishment?
“We set goals every year to make the playoffs, so I’d say the times we made the playoffs.”
What would your go-to song be at Karaoke night?
“Oh man, let’s see. I’m a big ‘Rocky’ fan so the theme song from that movie.”
If you could eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be?
“It would be steak. Steak every day.”
Do you like or dislike surprises? Why or why not?
“I’m pretty much a routine guy. I like to know what is coming so I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of surprises.”
If you could have any superpower, which one would you choose?
“Whatever the name is, I’d choose the power to get everyone to buy into what you’re doing.”
If you could share a meal with any three individuals, alive or dead, who would you choose?
“Jesus Christ. I was a big Dale Murphy fan, so him. Oh man, that’s another tough one. Probably Michael Jordan for the last one.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview's Gillis talks playing baseball against MJ