MEXICO: NEVER REALLY BEEN THERE, BUT THEY'D SURE LIKE TO GO

     The Padres-Mets series in Monterrey, Mexico, will start
Friday and will be the first regular season major league games
ever played outside the USA or Canada.  The game will be played
at 26,500-seat Monterrey Stadium, and tickets, ranging from $4 to
$17, are expected to be sold out.  The game is largely seen as
"preview of major league expansion to Mexico."  MLBPA Associate
Gen Counsel Gene Orza: "It's only a question of when, no it.  You
can take that one to the bank" (Milton Jamail, BASEBALL WEEKLY,
8/14 issue).  CNBC's Sue Herera noted players have been asked to
stay in their hotel rooms as much as possible after the
kidnapping of Japanese executive Mamoru Konno in Tijuana (CNBC,
8/14).