Trade affects Stars

      Professional baseball players are taught early on not to get attached to any one city.
      But Homer Bush couldn't help himself.
      After Bush broke his leg last May, prematurely ending his season with the Stars, the Padres brought their prospect to San Diego, where Bush spent the summer rehabilitating the injury.
      It didn't take long for Bush to fall in love with the beach city, nor did it take long for the second baseman to have visions of himself in a Padres uniform.
      However, as enamored as he was with San Diego, Bush knew when he returned to Las Vegas this season that there was no guarantee his fantasy would turn into reality.
      "I'd love to play there," Bush said 10 days ago. "The weather is gorgeous, and that's the thing with me: If I can play somewhere where it's warm and nice all year round, that does nothing but help me. But if it doesn't work out, hey, I appreciate everything they've done for me. They've given me an opportunity, and I've taken advantage of it."
      Now, Bush will have to look for another opportunity on the opposite end of the country.
      Although Bush went to bed Tuesday night still property of the Padres, the speedy infielder is destined for the New York Yankees' organization, probably by today.
      Putting an end to the Hideki Irabu fiasco, the Padres on Tuesday agreed to a trade that sends Irabu's rights, Bush and minor-league outfielders Gordon Amerson and Vernon Maxwell to the Yankees. The Yankees are to give San Diego $3 million, along with injured outfielder Ruben Rivera and minor-league pitcher Rafael Medina.
      With the trade not official, Bush, who is on the disabled list, was in uniform for the Stars' game Tuesday night against the Vancouver Canadians at Cashman Field. However, before Las Vegas' 10-7 victory, the 24-year-old Bush seemed resigned to the fact he was headed to Columbus, Ohio, the Yankees' Triple-A affiliate.
      "I was told by my agent that he thinks it's going to go (through), but he doesn't know for sure," said Bush, who was batting .324 when he was sidelined last week with an injured quad muscle. "I didn't know anything about it. It's a shock, just being traded. You have to go to another organization and kind of prove yourself all over to your peers and to the front office. But I understand you can't go to the big leagues with every team you come up with."
      San Diego drafted Bush in the seventh round of the June 1991 Free Agent Draft, and the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder steadily climbed through the Padres' minor-league system, reaching Triple-A Las Vegas last season.
      He led the Stars with a .362 average in 1996 before breaking his right fibula while attempting a steal of second base on May 17. Bush had several screws inserted into the leg, and although doctors predicted a complete recovery, Bush said he was worried about regaining his speed.
      Although he played 27 games in the Arizona Fall League in the offseason, Bush said he wasn't completely confident he would be OK until he went to spring training and batted .350 in nine exhibition games.
      Despite his spring effort, Bush was sent back to Las Vegas because San Diego traded for young second baseman Quilvio Veras in the offseason. When the 26-year-old Veras started strong this year, the Padres apparently deemed Bush expendable.
      "I'm kind of happy and sad," Bush said. "Happy because some other team wants me. So long as somebody wants me, I'm OK, because the jobs are so limited. And I'm sad because I have to leave my teammates. I've been playing with some of these guys three, four, five years. And I've grown close to a couple of people in the front office."
      He also grew close to Stars manager Jerry Royster.
      "It's going to be tough because Jerry really looked out for my best interests and really took care of me," Bush said. "Now, it's like I have to go out on my own, which is what the game is about. But that was a plus for me to have someone to keep me in line."
      And it was a plus for Royster to have Bush.
      "I'd like to have Homer with me -- period," said Royster, who said Bush will play tonight for the Stars if he's healthy and Irabu has yet to sign. "We're losing a very good baseball player if he goes, one of my favorite all-time Padres."