After dream was put on hold, Poe is back on track

Will he or won't he?

That's the million dollar question circulating Chicago and the world about Bulls basketball star Michael Jordan, who has made threats of retiring if the club doesn't keep head coach Phil Jackson around for another year.

"He'll be back," Las Vegas Stars outfielder Charles Poe says with a knowing grin. "He'll be back."

What makes Charles Poe such an authority on MJ anyway?

Plenty.

It was Poe who surrendered his spot in the Birmingham Barons outfield back in 1994 so that Jordan could take a shot at trying to fulfill his major league baseball dream. And it's Poe who ocassionally gets a phone call from Jordan, who still keeps tabs on his old Birmingham teammates by rummaging through the minor league statistics in Baseball America and Baseball Weekly.

"He called me after I was traded to Oakland (in 1996) and told me to keep my head up," Poe said. "He still checks in every once in a while with some of the guys to see how they're doing."

Jordan hasn't checked in with Poe this season. Evidently he's too tied up trying to three-peat for the second time in his illustrious career.

If he did, his Airness would find that Poe is having a solid year for the Stars, hitting .296 with two home runs and 10 RBI.

Although he calls the '94 season "a setback in my life", the 26-year-old West Covina (Calif.) High School product doesn't hold any grudges against Jordan.

Far from it. If anything, Poe learned to be a major league baseball player one day he'd, well, have to be like Mike.

"He's one of my idols," Poe said. "A lot of my work habits I got from him.

"It was real amazing being around him and watching just how hard he works. At spring training he was always the first guy there. Here's a guy of his stature and he's getting there at 6:30 or 7 in the morning just to take extra batting practice. I think his dedication and hard work rubbed off on a lot of guys."

Poe also got to see first hand just how chaotic life can be for someone generally regarded as the greatest basketball player in history.

"I'm telling you, you should have seen the way people would follow our bus, going to other cities just to see him, just to touch him. It was wild."

One piece of advice that Jordan gave him still sticks with Poe.

"He told me that when you're around people, you never know who's watching you," Poe said. "So you've always got to give it your best effort."

One person who has noticed Poe's effort is Las Vegas manager Jerry Royster.

"He's just a class individual," Royster said. "He's one of the most well-liked players on the team. He always plays the game for keeps. You never have to get on him for not running out a ground ball. You don't have to tell him to work on something. He just goes out and does it. And he doesn't complain about anything."

So what does Poe need to do at triple-A to get a shot at the big leagues?

"For me, he just needs some more playing time," Royster said. "And he needs to continue to play and improve at the pace he is. He has some more hidden power that could still come out. But since being called up to triple-A, he's been a very solid player for us."

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