Bobby Thigpen, a former teammate who resides nearby, dropped by Ed Smith Stadium on Monday to visit some White Sox pals. He couldn’t help but observe the new use for his old locker.
“JORDAN 45” read the blue nameplate.
“If they’re going to give it to a rookie, what better rookie than Michael?” reasoned Thigpen, who will be off to spring training in Arizona with the Seattle Mariners Tuesday morning, just about the time Michael Jordan embarks on his first official outdoor workout for grounded media mongers. A helicopter swooped in over his drill the other day, but that doesn’t count, even if he is still Air Jordan.
Michael, a camp invitee earning the going minor-league wage of $850 per month, will perspire for a couple of hours before participating in his first official outdoor press conference. About 250 of us truth-seekers are expected, approximately the same number of folks draped around TV trucks Monday along Euclid Avenue to watch Jordan depart the complex in a red Corvette. Only after exhaust fumes cleared and the crowd dispersed did elaborate security arrangments relax at Stalag 45.
“We want to be fair to all of you people,” said General Manager Ron Schueler, “but we also want to get ready for the season.”
Thus, the strategic position of Jordan’s stall. It is just a quick buttonhook pattern away from the medical room, which is off-limits to the paparazzi. Michael will dress with his fellow ballplayers, but only on selected days-say, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, according to the present plan-can he be interviewed. If one of us typist-clerks hears him singing in the shower on a restricted day, all lyrics must be deemed off the record.
“Jack McDowell has his second career,” Schueler went on, continuing the musical theme. “And, in so many words, Jack has knocked this Jordan thing. But, if Bon Jovi asked Jack to play in their band, he’d jump and we wouldn’t stop him. Except on days when he pitched. All our guys respect Michael. And if they don’t, they will when they see his work ethic. That day at IIT last week? That was the first time he smiled in the batting cage, and it was because he was nervous.
“Rest of the time, he’s dead serious. You can’t get him tired and he’s forever asking questions. The only thing our guys might wonder is why? He was the greatest basketball player who ever lived, but you know, no matter how much he improves, he’s not going to be the greatest baseball player ever. If he goes north with us-and that’s still a million-to-1 shot-and hits .270, people are going to say, `So what?’ That’s why he’s in a no-win situation.”
Still, probably for the first time in Jordan’s adult life, he’s an underdog. Yes, he’s scheduled to play in the White Sox Grapefruit League opener against Texas on March 4. But, before then, starting very soon, Jordan will face live pitching from prospects such as Scott Ruffcorn, his clubhouse neighbor. Ruffcorn must impress to qualify for the varsity, too, and he doesn’t collect $30 million a year on the side.
“Those guys aren’t going to back off because it’s Michael,” Schueler promised. “And pitchers, whoever they are, don’t have their control this early, if you know what I mean. I was talking with Ozzie Guillen. He said even he doesn’t like stepping in against these guys in spring training. That’s why we’ll know a lot early, earlier than March 4. Michael will know, too. It was his decision to start. It would be his decision to stop.”
Jordan, here a week, has sampled local night life, usually accompanied by Sox trainer Herm Schneider. The baseball crash course commences Tuesday, when coaches store their golf clubs and divvy up Michael, who will receive the usual $772 weekly for camp allowance, but no guarantees. It’s a fantasy, but look at it this way. If White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf had balked, and Michael tried out with the San Diego Padres instead, wouldn’t Chicago feel cheated?
Let the other winter games begin.
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