Juan Uribe was on fire against his former teammates, knocking in seven runs in the Dodgers’ 10-2 rout of the Giants.

Juan Uribe had seven, count ’em 7, RBIs when the Dodgers beat the Giants, 10-2, at AT&T Park last night. What a delicious morsel of victory that is. I always delight in San Francisco’s utter annihilation. They are so smug with their “Beat L.A.” chants and World Series rings and all. I have my fingers crossed for a sweep, but just two wins will be enough for me.

Too Much Is a Good Thing
Now, about our outfield. It was being touted as too full of great players, once Carl Crawford got activated yesterday from the DL. You have Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Crawford vying for three spots in the outfield, and they are all great hitters and great defenders.

Well, Puig of course is a sure thing. He is too hot and too talked-about not to play right field every single day. So the other three All-Star players will rotate in left and center. It’s not a bad thing to be able to have three players of that caliber either A) playing left or center while one of the others takes a day off, or B) sitting on the bench waiting to hit the big Manny-sized grand slam at just the right moment.

However, there is a difference in attitude that must be pointed out.

Andre Ethier is the kind of player I would want on my team.

Andre Ethier is game to do anything the Dodgers suggest, even moving freely from his usual right field to center when Kemp was hurt and then to left when Kemp returned to the Puig-ified outfield.

Here’s what Ethier has had to say about sharing duties, instead of having his place assured every game:

“Even the days when I’m not in there, I want to learn stuff on the bench, because your days off are a good opportunity to learn up here, also.”

I heard one of the Dodger broadcasters say that Ethier offered to learn how to play shortstop, if it would help the team win.

Carl Crawford doesn’t have the right attitude, as far as I can tell.

By contrast, here is how Crawford reacted to Don Mattingly’s little pow-wow with his millionaire superstars:

“Will I accept being a platoon player? I don’t think so, but at this point, I have to do what I’ve got to do.”

That’s the team spirit! I’ll do, grudgingly, what I have to do to get along.

I think Ethier is a much stronger team player than Crawford, and that is what this little game is all about.

I guess more players lick themselves than are ever licked by an opposing team. The first thing any man has to know is how to handle himself.”
— Connie Mack

The Dodgers, led by pitcher Chris Capuano, couldn’t sweep the Rockies and lost 9-5 in Colorado. But, hey! It’s only their second defeat in 12 games, so there’s no complaining to be done.

On to San Francisco, let repeat the sweet sweep!