THE CHICAGO WHITE SOX HAVE THAT... EMPTY FEELING

Jerry Manuel was told to take a hike. Suspended for eight games, banned from the Chicago White Sox bench, he quickly discovered how much he missed the competition, the strategy and especially the contact with his players.

“It’s been tough, a difficult time” the mild-mannered manager said.

So when the White Sox returned to the team hotel in Detroit one night after another early season win, Manuel made his own contribution in his own way. After listening to part of the game on radio, he had a special surprise waiting.

Borrowing a bellhop’s hat, coat and a pair of gloves, Manuel masqueraded as a doorman and began high-fiving his startled players and coaches as they arrived.

“They didn’t even tip me,” he said with a laugh.

Times are certainly fun now for the White Sox. They survived an air-clearing spring training blowup between Frank Thomas and Manuel and endured an ugly brawl with the Detroit Tigers that resulted in Manuel and six of his players getting suspensions of varying lengths.

They’ve shown that their well-worn marketing slogan: “The Kids Can Play” might finally be panning out. And even those who most certainly aren’t kids, like the 31-year-old Thomas, have been playing with a fresh approach.

The White Sox are in first place, but as players love to say, it’s still early.

“We got good chemistry from 1-25. Guys care about each other,” said Thomas, a two-time MVP coming off ankle surgery and two sub-par seasons. “This is the best chemistry here since the early ‘90s. It’s a little different mix because then we had veterans. Now we have younger guys.”

The White Sox started 17-8 in April, setting a club record for victories and scoring more runs (181) than any team in baseball history during that month.

The AL’s youngest team at the start of the season--tied with the Twins at an average age of 26.8 years--has been playing exciting baseball, the pitching has picked up and even though the fielding is shaky, it’s improving.

During the first six games of Manuel’s suspension, the White Sox split, ending from a three-game losing streak Wednesday by homering five times, including three straight in one inning. They’ve stayed on top in the AL Central but are yet to play the Indians or the Yankees this season.

“Let’s don’t talk about (first place) till September. There’s a long way to go,” Thomas said.

But victories in the first two months count, too.

“I watched the scoreboard and saw the other night that Cleveland lost and I said, ‘Let’s get another game,”’ said first baseman Paul Konerko, one of the team’s biggest run producers. “I know it’s just the beginning of May, but why not?”

If the White Sox have caught the eye of baseball with their improved play--the additions of shortstop Jose Valentin and pitcher Cal Eldred in a trade with Milwaukee have been a big boost--they’re still seeing a familiar color at Comiskey Park.

It’s blue. The color of empty seats peering down.

You’d think they would have already done enough to put fans in the stands. Maybe not in the far reaches of an incredibly steep upper deck that is perhaps better suited for skiers and mountain goats, but certainly in the lower levels of the 9-year-old park.

Through their first 15 games, they were averaging just 14,200 a game and that’s factoring in a crowd of nearly 39,000 for the home opener.

The Cubs pack in the big crowds at ivy-covered Wrigley Field where Sammy Sosa and Kerry Wood play and there are many bars and restaurants within staggering distance of the bleachers. But just eight miles south, the White Sox struggle at the gate.

Comiskey Park is off the ramp of a busy, traffic-snarled expressway and devoid of the retro atmosphere so prevalent in the new parks across the major leagues.

“What’s going on?” pitcher Jim Parque asked earlier this season after another paltry crowd. “What do we have to do? Throw perfect games and hit every ball out of the park before they come out?”

Marketing director Rob Gallas said the total number of advance seats sold in various ticketing packages are up from last season and so are TV ratings. But right now the crowds are small, though vocal.

Last year the Sox drew 1,338,851, an average of 17,616. And now the question: Will winning make a difference?

“When it warms up a little bit and we’re continuing to play well, you’ll see a little bit of an increase, maybe not super significantly,” pitcher Mike Sirotka said. “But I think at this point some fans are a little more into us. But it’s a little disappointing that we are in first place and the support really hasn’t been there. We’ve done our part.”

Manuel, an avid reader who enjoys the writings of Ghandi, thinks the good start will be a mental boost for the long season ahead. His first two teams were 80-82 and 75-86, good for distant second-place finishes behind the Indians.

“There are going to be times of struggle,” he predicted. “But by getting off to such a good start, we can always go back and say we know how to win.”

Konerko calls the team’s early success “huge.”

“A bad month can really ruin a team,” he said. “But we also know that the headlines at the end of the year can be: ‘After great start, White Sox fall on their faces.’ So that keeps us going.”