A Cold Wind in Chicago : White Sox: Despite their success, the AL West champions remain neglected stepchildren with their city’s fans.

This town gossips about Oprah’s waistline. It worries about Michael. It misses Ditka.

The greatest anxiety sweeping through town these days is over whether the Cubs will fire Jim Lefebvre or give him another season.

Oh, and that other baseball team in town, the Chicago White Sox?

They will be playing in Game 1 of the American League playoff at 5:12 (PDT) tonight against the Toronto Blue Jays at Comiskey Park, the ultimate goal being the first World Series championship for this city since 1917.

“You sure wouldn’t know it around here, would you?” designated hitter Bo Jackson said. “To be quite honest with you, with the way people have jumped on and off our bandwagon all year, I’m surprised no one broke their bleeping neck.

“We know that no one’s going to get excited about us until we win the pennant. That’s fine, let them keep watching the Cubs.”

This town, spoiled by the Bulls, intrigued by the Bears, and infatuated with the Cubs, simply is finding it impossible to embrace the White Sox, let alone become excited about them.

“It’s completely mystifying,” said infielder-outfielder Steve Sax, who spent seven seasons with the Dodgers. “Maybe our fans in L.A. were gone in the seventh inning, but at least we felt appreciated.”

Said second baseman Joey Cora: “Maybe if we win the World Series, someone will notice, but until then the Cubs will still be No. 1.”

Although it’s understood that if you are born north of Madison Street, you are a Cub fan, and south of it you are automatically a Sox fan, there’s really no comparison in popularity. The Cubs were out of the pennant race by Memorial Day this season, and haven’t even been to a World Series since 1945, but they still drew more fans than the White Sox.

“The public’s perception of us is that we’re a dull, boring, underachieving team,” catcher Mike LaValliere said. “We win the division, have got the MVP of the league in Frank Thomas, the Cy Young winner in Jack McDowell, and got Bo playing on his bionic hip, and nothing’s changed.”

Said outfielder Mike Huff: “The trouble is that we’ve got too many good, genuine people in here, and no controversy. We don’t have anyone stirring up trouble. No one’s slapping their wife around or driving their Ferrari 800 m.p.h.”

The White Sox, who last were in the playoffs 10 years ago, are crashing this playoff party without personality. Their theme of “Good Guys Wear Black” might be good merchandising, but to the players, it is only clothing.

Thomas is 6 feet 5, 257 pounds, but he’s the brunt of private jokes in the clubhouse for his low threshold of pain. Third baseman Robin Ventura charged the mound this year against Nolan Ryan, only to suffer the indignity of being pummeled by a 46-year-old man. Manager Gene Lamont looks as if he would be more comfortable teaching high school algebra than talking to reporters.

There simply is no sense of shared affection between the team and their fans, the effect of a team being private and dull. Local reporters have complained all year about their cool relationship with the team, and consider it peculiar that the team employs undercover policemen to patrol inside the clubhouse.

“Everyone says how boring we are,” shortstop Ozzie Guillen said. “Hey, as long as you win, what the hell difference does it make?

“What do they want us to be, like Detroit where you score 100 runs in one game and don’t score another run for 10 days? Is that supposed to be exciting? Give me a break.”

If anyone’s to blame for their image, the White Sox players will privately tell you, it might be Jerry Reinsdorf, White Sox chairman. It was Reinsdorf who left the Bulls’ victory celebration this summer, sauntered over to Comiskey, and told reporters that the White Sox were underachievers.

The White Sox were 45-41 at the All-Star break, one game ahead of Texas and two ahead of the Angels in a race that was supposed to be a runaway. They wound up winning 49 of 76 games after the All-Star break, and were in first place 125 days of the season, but Reinsdorf’s comments didn’t fade.

“We were four games over .500 and I said that our team was underachieving,” Reinsdorf said the other day. “I stand behind that statement.

“But I never said it a second time, and I’m distressed that the media continue to repeat it as if I still feel that way. Obviously, we have not underachieved in the second half. We played to my expectations the second half.”

Yet even with the White Sox clinching their first American League West title since 1983, Jackson playing with an artificial hip, bullpen stopper Roberto Hernandez saving 38 games after nearly losing his arm two years ago, outfielder Ellis Burks and shortstop Ozzie Guillen returning from career-threatening injuries, Thomas hitting 41 homers and driving in 128 runs, and McDowell winning 22 games, they can’t shed their dull image.

“Hey, it’s true,” said one veteran scout. “I get bored just watching these guys. You keep waiting for something to happen, but nothing does. They’re so predictable and dull that you think you’re missing something.”

If management didn’t think there were image problems, you think they would have tried last week’s stunt, inviting 70-year-old Minnie Minoso to play in their final home game? It turned into a public-relations catastrophe once the White Sox players caught wind of it.

The players, led by McDowell, became so outraged that management had no choice but to rescind the idea, staging a second news conference to tell everyone to forget about the first one.

“We were very surprised that they didn’t come and ask us about it,” left fielder Tim Raines said. “Instead, they just threw it in our face. It would have taken away from us what we achieved. We don’t want to be selfish about it, but here’s a team who just achieved something great, and they try to pull something like that.

“It would have been completely degrading.”

Said Guillen: “This is baseball, not showtime.”

The White Sox will be quite content to leave all of the fanfare and hype to the Blue Jays this season. Let the Blue Jays talk all they want to the media hordes, let them strut on the field, let them boast about the finest offense in baseball.

The Sox are going to keep playing the old-fashioned way, with superb pitching, solid defense and try to have a baserunner or two when Thomas steps to the plate.

“I know we’ve been criticized for being boring,” Lamont said, “but it has worked for us all year, and we’re not changing now. Personally, I think it’s an exciting team, but of course, people think I’m a dull person.

“I think if we just play our game, winning will provide plenty of excitement.”

Well, in case things doesn’t go quite according to Lamont’s plan, the White Sox ownership arranged for some excitement.

Who is throwing out the first pitch in tonight’s game? Michael Jordan.

“There hasn’t been too much flak about that because we’re still talking about maybe the most popular person in the world--at least the United States,” Raines said. “So no one in here really has a problem with Michael, especially since Reinsdorf owns the Bulls.”

Raines shrugged, started to walk away, and suddenly stopped.

“Hey, man,” Raines blurted, “no one said anything about him taking batting practice, did they?”