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By signing Belle, Reinsdorf now has the highest-paid players in baseball and basketball--Jordan makes $30.1 million this year. He also has the delinquent double of Belle and Rodman. Says Reinsdorf: "The people have shown, in the case of the fellow with the pink hair, that if you're playing for us and playing your heart out, we're going to embrace you." Belle will certainly be embraced by Thomas, who endorsed the signing just to have somebody hit behind him. If the two sluggers do what they're capable of (88 homers, 282 rbis last year), the White Sox could have a latter-day Ruth-Gehrig combination. Their combined salaries of $17 million, however, exceed the entire payrolls of three teams: the Milwaukee Brewers, Montreal Expos and Pittsburgh Pirates. And there is the matter of Belle's behavior, which has included heaving balls at people, running down trick-or-treaters in his truck and throwing tantrums too numerous to mention. One Chicago columnist pointed out last week that at $10 million a year, Belle could afford to assault verbally NBC's Hannah Storm 200 times at $50,000 a fine, or give Brewer second baseman Fernando Vina a forearm shiver 400 times at $25,000 a shot.
Toronto Blue Jays CEO Paul Beeston, who generally opposes Reinsdorf on the labor front, had no problem with the Belle signing. "Was I surprised that Jerry did it? Yes. Do I think he was a hypocrite? No. Knowing how much Jerry wants to win, knowing how smart he is, the story holds together. We were also accused of buying the World Series, but you have to pay if you want to win. You just have to spend your money wisely. Jerry and I argue all the time, but I have the utmost respect for the man. He also has a sense of humor, although not too many people were laughing last week."
Reinsdorf is still a long way from getting the last laugh. But if the White Sox win, there will be a clamor in Chicago for Reinsdorf to buy Da Bears too. "If I buy the Bears," says Reinsdorf, "I'd have to get divorced, and that might be more expensive than buying the Bears."