From her home in Gardnerville, Shea Stadium is a more difficult commute than the one to Pac-Bell Park.

"It's disappointing to us because San Francisco is so convenient," said Sue Estes, who routinely drove to San Francisco to watch home games that Shawn started during his seven seasons with the Giants. "We'll still get to go watch him play when he's on the West Coast and we'll probably get direct T.V. with the special stations so we can watch some of the games on television."

Estes, drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of baseball's 1991 free agent draft as a senior out of Douglas High School, was obtained by the Giants in a deal early in the 1995 season and he pitched his way from Class A all the way to the parent club by the end of that season.

That was 160 starts and 990 innings ago. Now, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound left-hander is looking ahead to playing for a different Major League club for the first time. It's still no surprise. His name surfaced last week in discussion about a three-player, three-team trade in which Robin Ventura would have gone to the Giants, Ray Lankford would have gone to the Mets and Estes to the Padres.

"I think he was kind of prepared for this," Sue Estes said. "The Mets trainer took a look at him last week ... checked his ankle out and all that ... so he knew they were interested in him."

Estes went 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 27 starts this past season. Estes is 64-50 with 4.25 ERA in 160 games. He had surgery to remove bone chips from his left ankle when the season ended. But he says that he is now fine, that he's running and anxious to pitch in New York.

"I think it's great," said his father, T.C. Estes. "The Mets have a good shot at getting to the World Series. That's a good young team. Shawn gets to pitch with Al Leiter and I think that's going to help; he's going to have a great defense behind him; and from what I understand, they're still trying to make themselves stronger. I hear they're looking to pick up Juan Gonzalez or Jeromy Burnitz from Milwaukee ... another big hitter to help out Mike Piazza. You've gotta like that."

Estes, who will celebrate his 29th birthday on Feb. 18, figures to join a starting rotation that includes Leiter, Kevin Appier, Bruce Chen, Glendon Rusch, Steve Trachsel and possibly Satoru Komiyama. He will also have the support of an infield led by three-time Gold Glove winner Rey Ordonez -- who set a major league record for errorless games by a shortstop when he ended the 2001 season by playing 100 straight games without a miscue -- plus Edgardo Alfonzo, who will move from second base to third to make room for Roberto Alomar, acquired from Cleveland in an eight-player swap on Tuesday.

"He's excited to be on the team with those guys," Sue Estes said. "It's not where you play that matters, it's how you play. And I'm just happy he's going to be playing baseball."

Even though Shawn will wear different colors when he plays now, he still intends to make his home in San Francisco.

"He loves San Francisco, so he will still be close in that regard," Sue Estes. "We as a family have to change our team allegiances. That's going to different, especially for T.C., because he's been a Giants fan for a long time.

"But Shawn is fine with it, so I'm fine with it. He's still getting to do what he loves, that's the main thing."



Dave Price is a sports writer for the Nevada Appeal