He's Back

Mickey Mouse is back, battle-tested, humbled and ready to show the world what he’s learned. Yeah, right. The second-year White Sox manager talked to the media yesterday on the eve of pitchers and catchers reporting in Arizona. Mouse is quoted in today’s Sun-Times admitting “101 losses will rock anybody’s world,” the silver lining being “you learn a lot through that.” This is what I’ve learned off of last season. Mouse is testy to the point of arrogant. He says he knows fans are skeptical about his abilities, “But there’s a reason I am where I am, right? You just don’t get handed these jobs, right?” Wrong. Jerry Reinsdorf does it all the time. I learned long ago Reinsdorf likes suck-ups, and that’s what his manager did talking about Reinsdorf pal Tony LaRussa, who’ll be at spring training as some sort of senior advisor. Mouse said LaRussa has been “great. I push him every day to give me more [wisdom, I guess]. He’s got a wealth of knowledge, and it’s not just knowledge.” Huh? Oh, Mouse meant, “He’s got a story for everything.” Except, of course, about Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire doing steroids right under his nose.