That’s Why It’s Called Second City

Kerry Wood may be the best thing to have happened to the Chicago Cubs since they planted ivy at Wrigley Field, but he would seem to be another thorn in the side of the White Sox, who rank 12th among the 14 American League teams with an attendance average of 14,331 and have seen their attendance fall from 2.9 million in 1991, the opening season of new Comiskey Park, to 1.8 in ’97.

White Sox marketing vice-president Rob Gallas put his best face on it and said anything that stirs baseball interest, as Wood has, benefits both teams.

“In the first place, we don’t compete for the same fans, and there’s another guy in town who tends to be more of a distraction,” Gallas said.

He referred to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

“Our no-show rate goes up considerably when the Bulls are playing,” Gallas said.

The Sox drew 15,007 for Randy Johnson and the Seattle Mariners in opposition to the “Seinfeld” finale Thursday night, but oppose Jordan and the Bulls while hosting the Oakland Athletics today.

Gallas said White Sox research indicates that the ’94 strike, coming with the team headed for a second straight division title, engendered considerable animosity among fans.

“Our attendance went down 50%,” he said. “We were hit very hard and we’ve had to work hard to overcome that.”

The role of owner Jerry Reinsdorf as a management hawk during the strike didn’t help, nor did Reinsdorf’s decision to trade Wilson Alvarez and Roberto Hernandez with his team only 3 1/2 games off the Central Division lead last July. The Sox since have created new attractions at Comiskey, which lacks the warmth and personality of most of the new parks, and are now trying to create a younger, face-in-the-dirt type team in response to their research--the $55-million signing of Albert Belle not withstanding.

Nevertheless, until the weather warms and Bull fever cools, the White Sox are a tough sell, but Gallas said, “as an organization man, I’ve got to pull for the boss.” He meant Reinsdorf, who also owns the Bulls.

*

Tired of seeing his bombers bomb in too many clutch situations, Seattle Mariner Manager Lou Piniella moved Alex Rodriguez into the leadoff role this week and said: “We’ve had this offense for 35 games, and it’s the same old Seattle. If we hit it out of the park, we win; if we don’t, we struggle. Alex is my best base stealer. I’m going to give him the opportunity from the No. 1 hole to help us manufacture some runs. I recognize fully we don’t have that type of team, but we’re going to try to force things.”

*

The latest measure of the pitching shortage: The Cleveland Indians on Wednesday signed Charles Nagy to a four-year, $24-million contract with a fifth-year option, 24 hours after the Baltimore Orioles signed Scott Erickson to a five-year $32-million contract. Erickson’s deal will force the Orioles to renegotiate ace Mike Mussina’s three-year $20.5-million contract since they have an agreement with Mussina that he will be the team’s highest-paid pitcher. . . .

The Indians’ recent struggle coincides with the season-long struggle of third baseman Travis Fryman, trying to replace Matt Williams. Fryman has been romancing the .200 Mendoza line, but General Manager John Hart said, “You look at his numbers the last six years and they say he’s an outstanding offensive player. I don’t think he fell off the face of the earth between the end of last year and this year.”