Jackson’s Center-Ring Performance Has Soggy Opening Act : Comebacks: Sellout crowd in Sarasota goes home unhappy after White Sox outfielder’s minor league debut is rained out.

A capacity crowd of about 7,500 at Ed Smith Stadium on Saturday saw no rainbow and almost no Bo.

Heavy rain, beginning an hour before the scheduled start of Bo Jackson’s first game with the Sarasota White Sox, forced a postponement about 90 minutes later.

Jackson is scheduled to begin his rehabilitation assignment with a day-night doubleheader at noon and 6 p.m. today.

Fans who held tickets Saturday night will be admitted to the first of the two seven-inning games.

That seemed of little solace to the dampened throng that booed announcement of the postponement and chanted “We want Bo!” as they held up placards that read, “SaraSox Love Bo.”

The rain had stopped by then, but the infield in the area around shortstop was deemed unplayable by Florida State League umpires Jeff Nelson and Brian Gilbert after consultation with the groundskeepers and club officials.

To appease the crowd, Jackson agreed to deliver a few words from a microphone behind the plate. He arrived from the clubhouse behind the right field fence in a golf cart driven by Chicago General Manager Ron Schueler.

“I appreciate your support,” Jackson told the crowd. “I’m sorry the game was called off. As they say, I’ll see you tomorrow at noon. I’ll be here. How about you?”

There was mixed reaction as Jackson smiled, bowed and returned to the golf cart for the trip back across the wet terrain, refusing to speak with reporters until he has played his first game.

Said Jeff Hibbs, a Sarasota fireman whose wife, Kim, had stood in line for two hours to buy tickets Thursday and who arrived with hundreds of other fans more than two hours before the gates opened Saturday:

“I thought they could have played. I’m on duty tomorrow and can’t be here. I’m even more disappointed that he didn’t stay out and sign autographs, at least.”

The postponement, Schueler insisted, didn’t stem strictly from a concern for Jackson.

“It wasn’t just a Bo decision, but a whole club decision,” he said. “The groundskeepers were sinking when they walked over that area at shortstop.

“It would have taken several hours to repair, and even then they couldn’t be sure if the footing was going to be solid. We didn’t want to risk injury, to Bo or any of the prospects we have here.”

Jackson hasn’t played a baseball game since he ended the 1990 season with the Kansas City Royals. After he suffered a severe hip injury in a January playoff game with the Raiders, he was released by the Royals and later signed by the White Sox.

Although Chicago trainer Herm Schneider said that Jackson will never be the fleet-footed Bo again and he is scheduled to serve only as a designated hitter in the minor leagues, his return contributed to a circus atmosphere in a city that is the winter home of Ringling Bros.:

--Security guards followed the .257 career hitter everywhere, keeping reporters at bay.

--Sarasota manager Rick Patterson kept describing what it meant to his young players to rub elbows with an athlete who had met the challenge of playing two pro sports and was now overcoming adversity.

--First baseman Scott Cepicky looked up at the capacity crowd, then said his team normally drew only the hot dog sellers and “now we’re all dreaming of hitting a home run with Bo here.”

Jackson arrived at noon, seven hours before the scheduled start, and hit several home runs in an early batting practice during which Schueler was one of the pitchers.

“I’m impressed with his upper body strength,” the general manager said later. “He can still muscle a ball out of the park, and he’s going to get to a point where his legs are stronger.”

Schueler, of course, hopes it happens quickly. His White Sox have lost five in a row and are threatening to fall out of the race in the American League West.

Jackson is scheduled to play four games with the double-A Birmingham Barons starting Monday, then return to Chicago for re-evaluation. He could be on the White Sox roster when they face Kansas City Sept. 2.

“We’re all disappointed with the rain, Bo included,” Schueler said. “He’s nervous, excited and anxious. He wants to get that first game under his belt.”

Saturday, a big top would have been more appropriate than a tarp.