(Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. Photo by Malcolm Emmons, US Presswire)

3/18/1985 - Mays, Mantle reinstated

MLB commissioner Peter Ueberroth reinstates Hall of Fame outfielders Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle, who had been banned from baseball by former commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Mays was ostracized in 1979 when he signed a ten-year deal to become an associate with the Park Place Hotel in Atlantic City. Mantle, feeling that the banishment of Mays was a frivolous one, went ahead and became a greeter for the Claridge casino in Atlantic City in 1983. Not long after that, Kuhn banned him as well.

"(Bowie Kuhn) said 'Why can't you do like Reggie Jackson and do a Panasonic commercial or like Joe DiMaggio and do a Mr. Coffee commercial?' I've been out of baseball 14 years and I don't have Panasonic and Mr. Coffee knocking at my door," Mantle said.

Since the Black Sox scandal of 1919, the golden rule of baseball was that no betting or gambling would ever be tolerated, out of fear that the players could again be bribed into throwing games. Kuhn believed that any association with gamblers was reason enough to be expelled. And while the ban did not affect Mays' or Mantle's Hall of Fame status, it did forbid them from taking part in any function of Major League Baseball.

The decisions were extremely unpopular to the fans, who felt that Kuhn's decisions breached the intended purpose of the "no betting" rule. Mantle and Mays were not only two of the most popular players of their time, they had been hired to work in a city where any amount of sports betting would be 100% legal. And since both men were retired, it was also questioned why it would be wrong for either man to take part in gambling (plus both men were only assigned to PR spots).

Ueberroth stated that he found "no fault with the previous ruling," but that he was making "two exceptions for these two great players because of what they mean to the game." Kuhn expressed displeasure over the decision, stating that he felt creating exceptions was not the best way to approach the gambling issue. Both Mays and Mantle said they were thrilled to be off the permanently ineligible list.

"I can't hit, I can't run, but now I have options," said Mays, who expressed interest in becoming an ambassador of the game.

"This is one of the happiest days of my life," said Mantle. "I acted like it didn't bother me, but it did. You don't want to get kicked out of your favorite bar and you don't want to be banned from baseball."

3/17/1995 - Jordan returns to the NBA

With a two-word statement to the press that simply stated, "I'm back," Michael Jordan returned to the NBA. Jordan had been retired since October 1993 and had spent the last year playing minor league baseball with the White Sox organization. But baseball hadn't worked out so well and over the last week, Jordan had been practicing at the Chicago Bulls' training facility. There had been immense speculation that Michael would at last re-enter the league that had made him famous, and sure enough, after a few more days of waiting, he did.

Jordan's comeback was one of the two or three greatest things that ever happened to the NBA. After a disappointing result in the 1995 playoffs, Michael played three additional full years in Chicago before retiring once again. Those three years were three of the greatest years the league ever had: Jordan led the league in scoring in all three seasons, he won MVP awards in 1996 and 1998, and he led the Bulls to championships in all three seasons.

When Jordan rejoined the Bulls, he carried the legend of being one of the greatest athletes of all time. By showing that all his accolades were justified and by leading the 1996 Bulls to a 72-10 mark -- the best in NBA history -- Jordan actually managed to raise his popularity. The second edition of the 90's Bulls were the most popular, most followed team in the nation. Chicago sold out every single game. Ratings were at an all-time high. Everything about the team became a part of pop culture: Dennis Rodman's hair, Phil Jackson's beard. Even Ray Clay, the Bulls' PA announcer, became a household name for his energetic introductions of Jordan.

By the time Jordan hit the game-winning shot in the 1998 finals, there was no question who the most revered American athlete of the twentieth century was. There was also no question which athlete had made the greatest comeback from retirement. But it took awhile for the Jordan return to get good. When he took the floor against the Indiana Pacers the day after he un-retired, it was clear he had a lot of catching up to do.