It was difficult to stomach the drive into downtown from the South with that eyesore of a Kingdome dominating the south downtown (SoDo as the natives call it) skyline. Actually, it was so odd to have a team with three of the best players in baseball -- Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez -- starring for the Seattle Mariners in what amounted to nothing more than an oversized convention center/warehouse.

For most of the 22½ years they toiled, generally unsuccessfully, in the Kingdome until this trio came together to drive the Mariners to the ALCS in 1995 and the AL West title in 1997. And even before that first title was won, on March 8 of that year, they broke ground on what would prove to be more than a half-billion dollar ballpark that would become the lovely and pastoral Safeco Field.

As of Monday morning, it became official -- all three superstars who helped get the ballpark built are no longer members of the Mariners. When Rodriguez agreed to a major league-record 10-year, $252 million free agent contract to join the Texas Rangers on Monday, that means when the 2001 baseball season begins, A-Rod will be on the division-rival Rangers; Griffey will be in center field for the Cincinnati Reds; and the 2000 Cy Young Award winner, Johnson, will be the heart of the Arizona Diamondbacks staff.

Not since the purge of the Pirates in 1991-92 when Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds and Doug Drabek left Pittsburgh have such high-level players left a team in one fell swoop. And all three of these Seattle players are of a higher level than those three.

In the case of Johnson, the Mariners just didn't want to give him the kind of money Greg Maddux or the other top-of-the-line pitchers were receiving. So they allowed the first half of the 1998 season to turn into a nightmare of acrimony with Johnson in the clubhouse until they dealt him at the 11th hour of the trade deadline for Freddy Garcia, John Halama and Carlos Guillen.

It broke the Big Unit's heart not being loved and not being able to be the guy to make the first pitch at Safeco Field.

Instead, Griffey and A-Rod were there for the opener on July 15, 1999 and through the 1999 season. From the beginning, all they did was whine about how cold it got and how their long drives died in the power alleys. Suddenly, the two super hitters missed the friendly confines of the Kingdome/warehouse where the Mariners were a record-breaking, home-run hitting crew. And both were up for new contracts in the summer of 2000

Griffey wanted out immediately after the 1999 season, claiming he wanted to be closer to his offseason home in Orlando. After being shunned by his first choice -- the Atlanta Braves -- he focused on his hometown Cincinnati Reds and for all the bluster, the Mariners managed to get Brett Tomko, Mike Cameron and a couple of minor leaguers (Antonio Perez and Jake Meyer) in February of 2000.

But unlike Griffey, who made his unhappiness as plain as the perpetually pained looked on his face, Rodriguez played it coy. Behind closed doors he complained incessantly about Safeco Field, while smiling and playing the good soldier once the door opened and saying he would consider the Mariners just as he would any other team in free agency. Contrary to logic -- when general manager Pat Gillick was busy trying to get Griffey dealt and everyone else wanted Rodriguez -- Gillick couldn't and wouldn't consider a move.

Team president Chuck Armstrong and managing general partner from Nintendo Howard Lincoln decided to roll the dice on A-Rod's word. He wanted to be a team leader and on a team that would always compete to win the World Series. Of course, the Mariners got to the ALCS before losing to the Yankees in 2000, and as the team leader, he was spectacular in that series. As the series was about to end, he became emotional; making it more apparent he was almost through with Seattle.

It was a ludicrous decision by the Mariners brain trust not to trade him, and now they have manager Lou Piniella back on a new contract with comparable hitting to the little league team down the street. Was one more season with A-Rod worth losing him for nothing?

No, and for all the local commentators who said at the time it was worth it, think again.

Take a good long look: Johnson, Griffey and Rodriguez gone; Garcia, Halama, Guillen, Tomko and Cameron are here (Meyer and Perez might never make it). Guillen is the new shortstop for now and Cameron the center fielder. Tomko, Halama and Guillen are also prime trade bait as the Mariners need an outfielder, third baseman, shortstop and a catcher. In exchange for A-Rod last winter, they may have been able to fill three of the four needs.

So now we'll see just how good the always aloof Gillick really is. He did lose Griffey and piece together a team good enough to challenge in the American League, even though they were a considerably weak hitting team with A-Rod. Counting on soon-to-be 38-year-old Edgar Martinez to keep spewing out line drives is pure folly, as is hoping 36-year-old Jay Buhner stays in one piece again.

Adding Japanese icon Ichiro Suzuki to the outfield might end up being more than a novelty, but he certainly can't be expected to match what they got out of closer Kazuhiro Sasaki as last season's rookie of the year.

Essentially, A-Rod's move probably will give the final tally on the old adage of whether or not good pitching always beats good hitting. The Mariners are loaded with pitching and are very limited at the plate. The Rangers have added A-Rod, Ken Caminiti and Andres Galarraga to the center of a lineup that already has Ivan Rodriguez and Rafael Palmeiro.

As Yogi used to say, "Good pitching always beats good hitting, and vice versa."