The one that's really confused me is Mobile.

to Seattle. Of all the games the Padres play this season, road games in Seattle, our most hated of rivals, may be the most crucial games the team plays all year, and that includes post-season games. The Padres/M's games are like Ohio St/Michigan games: it doesn't matter what the team does the rest of the year as long as they win the big rivalry game.

Seriously, though, Vegas (as Dex will say in his post) really was ideal to some extent. Having a AAA close to SD would be best for the team and fans alike. Although the Padres have a hard enough time drawing fans, compared to some East Coast teams, and having a cheaper, but still fairly high-quality, alternative so close to San Diego may erode ticket sales.

Dex, you're the guru on the business end of sports, is there a viable solution?

I'd imagine it has to do with where the A, AA, and AAA leagues are. It's a little difficult to manage intra-league travel to an out-of-the-way ballpark when you do all your travel by bus. Just a guess.

Despite our large California cities, we don't have the urban sprawl of the east coast. So while cities like Lake Elsinore or Rancho Cucamunga are close they are also not really capable of supporting the attendance that you would expect of a AAA. Most AAA teams are located in cities that are close to be major league cities and have large populations (Portland, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Columbus, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City, Tucson, etc.). There just aren't that many of those in Southern California that are far enough away from the major league city. For example, you use 2 hours for Phillies AAA. Two hours north of San Diego is LA. Two hours west and you're in the ocean. Two hours south and you're in Mexico. Two hours east and you're in the desert. So basically you are left with cities like Fresno (SF), Las Vegas (LAD), Portland (SD), Colorado Springs (Col), Tucson (Ari), Salt Lake City (LAA), Sacramento (Oak), Oklahoma City (Tex), and Tacoma (Sea).

Good point

Unless he means a save instead of a straggler.

See, most people think that "Never Gonna Give You Up" was Astley's best work. The truth is, "Together Forever" was the real pinnacle of a short, but brilliant career. While "Together Forever" only reached #2 on the U.S. AC charts and in Canada...it did hit the number one slot on all the other charts that really matter in the music business (UK, US Hot & Dance).

Also, his earlier work with the group FBI should not go over-looked. There are some real hidden gems there you should really check out.

In closing, his loss at the 1989 Grammy Awards for Best New Artist to Tracy Chapman was what can only be described as grand theft. It's a horrible memory that time will never erase from my mind.