Jordan Is Back to Basics : Baseball: Former NBA superstar continues his odyssey in the Florida Instructional League.

The baseball strike has reduced the Florida Instructional League to a handful of intramural camps, but the minor leagues’ most celebrated player has not let the game’s labor struggle put a dent in his enthusiasm.

Former NBA superstar Michael Jordan arrived at Ed Smith Stadium Friday to continue his baseball education, joining 46 youthful Chicago White Sox prospects for some back-to-basics training at the organization’s spring training facility.

This normally is an anonymous affair, but Jordan cannot go anywhere without attracting reporters and camera crews -- and his presence in any other year would be a public relations bonanza for the instructional league concept.

This year is different. Even one of the most popular athletes on the planet cannot put baseball back on the map. The labor crisis has even filtered down to this level, where major-league funding and participation has dropped to the point that the White Sox instructional team will play mostly intrasquad scrimmages.

“I hope no one’s asking any strike questions,” Jordan said to the small group of reporters that greeted him Friday. “I’m not getting paid enough to worry about that. Come to think about it, I’m not getting paid, period.”

The instructional league is a lot like spring training in that respect. This is a meal-money gig, and the daily rate is barely enough for a couple of meals at McDonald’s. Jordan isn’t likely to starve, but the modest trappings of this minor-league venue are more proof that he is serious about his unlikely attempt to play in the majors.

Ed Smith Stadium is where it all began last spring. Jordan reported to training camp with the minor-league players and temporarily transformed Sarasota into the center of the baseball universe. He was able to slip into town a little more quietly this time.

“I think it’s good to come back just to see where I stand,” he said. “I have had time to work on some of the things I was taught here. I have come back to find out what I’ve learned.”

He has learned a lot. He has learned that the game is not as easy as it looks, even for someone with his physical gifts. He has learned a little about humility, though his decision to accept a Double-A assignment with the Birmingham Barons was evidence that he already had his head on straight. And he has learned to play professional baseball, though not yet at a level that would put him in the outfield at Comiskey Park any time soon.

“I went through a lot of stages very quickly,” Jordan said. “I had some success. I had some down times. Overall, I think I’ve come a long way.”

Jordan did not excel at the Double-A level. He batted .204 and had some rough days in right field. But he also stole 30 bases (fifth in the Southern League) and drove in 51 runs, which is just short of remarkable for a 31-year-old athlete who had not played the game at any level since high school.

If he has not completely silenced his doubters on the field, his two-week commitment in Sarasota and his request to play in the Arizona Fall League next month -- which was granted Friday by the commissioner’s office -- have erased the notion that he is just a bored rich guy who is using the White Sox organization as his personal playground.

“I think I’ve made some believers out of some people, coming here and going to winter ball, if that happens,” he said before Friday’s decision, which allowed the White Sox to place seven “top” prospects in the league, instead of the usual six.