White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper was holding court with a huge throng of reporters in the middle of the clubhouse before yesterday's World Series workout when Ozzie Guillen came stalking out of his office and shouted: "Hey Donnie! I just heard Dave Righetti got the job in New York and you got (bleeped)! Now you got to beg me to come back here!" It has been a rather open secret that Cooper, the 49-year-old Queens product and New York Tech product who has been given a lion's share of the credit for the best pitching staff in the AL, is high on the Yankees' list of potential replacements for Mel Stottlemyre. Such a prospect is flattering to Cooper, not to mention very interesting. "What can I say?" Cooper said. "I grew up in New York. I was a Yankee fan. I signed my first pro contract with them. I grew up in their system. The 26 world championships. How could you not be flattered to hear they might be interested in you? It's been a long, hard road for me. I coached in the minor leagues 14 years before I got here and never made any money."