If this isn’t an emergency, nothing is.

On consecutive days the Dodgers have blown games in which they effectively yanked defeat from the jaws of victory. It started with Saturday night’s disaster when the Dodgers were one strike away from victory and was something of the likes I have never seen before… well maybe once before. Seeing that train wreck at home plate on Saturday night reminded me of a similar one that occurred during game-1 of the 2006 NLDS between the Dodgers and Mets. Certainly you remember that one. Dodger catcher Russell Martin lined a single to right with Jeff Kent on second and J.D. Drew on first and Mets right fielder (and former Dodger) Shawn Green fired a bullet home, where Mets catcher (and former Dodger) Paul LoDuca tagged out both Kent and Drew. That was equally painful to watch and also something of the likes I had never seen before.

“Now there’s something you don’t see everyday,” I remember saying to myself when Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew were tagged out at home plate on the same play during the 2006 NLDS. (Photo credit – Suzy Allman)

And then there was Sunday’s game in which the Dodgers committed 5 errors, something that no Dodger team has done since 1995 (17 years). The final score in that nightmare was 7-2 with only one of the Padres seven runs being earned. This, too, was painful to watch. These two give-away games (or SHW [Should Have Won] games, as I call them) prevented the Dodgers from taking what should have easily been a three-game sweep of the lowly Padres and has landed them in second place in the NL West a game and a half behind the surging Giants.

These two losses weren’t the result of a lack of offense, something that the Dodgers have excelled at during the past six weeks. No, these two losses were the result of errors – both physical and mental. I don’t know how you prevent (or fix) mental errors like Jansen’s epic brain fart on Saturday night when he turned his back to home plate and never so much as looked at the runner on third base, which led to… well, you know. As far as the physical errors, this one I think there is a simple cure for – quit bouncing guys from position to position game after game. Let Juan Rivera play first base every game; let Mark Ellis play second base every game (a no-brainer); let Luis Cruz play shortstop every game; and let Josh Fields play third base every game (I’m getting a little head of my self here); and then let the so called utility bench players (Kennedy, Hairston and Loney) spell each of these guys every 8 or 10 games. Just because a guy can play multiple position doesn’t mean that he should play multiple positions – especially a different one every day.

And even here there may be an issue within an issue. Even though Jerry Hairston Jr. has been nothing short of phenomenal at third base, a little over a week ago he came right out and said that he would rather play second base than third base. This tells me that Hairston is not comfortable at third base or at least that he is less comfortable at third base than at second base or in the outfield. Why didn’t anybody (say… like… maybe… Don Mattingly) pay any attention to this comment? Hairston is saying something here, folks. Allow me to refresh your memory about something that could be very important here. Remember the first three weeks of spring training when Hairston made five throwing errors in 40 innings while playing third base? I mean it got to be a joke (albeit a bad joke). Hairston eventually admitted that the errors were the result of  shoulder inflammation that he suffered during a slide in the 2011 NLCS while with the Brewers. Here’s a thought – maybe Hairston’s shoulder is bothering him again and perhaps this is the real reason why he would rather play second base (and, of course, his errors). Has anybody (say… like… maybe… Don Mattingly) thought to ask him about this?

The throwing errors that Hairston made during Sunday’s painful loss to the Padres reminded me of the throwing errors he made during spring training. Is it possible that Hairston’s shoulder is bothering him again? Perhaps somebody should ask him. (Photo credit Jake Roth – US PRESSWIRE)

Getting back to this Josh Fields thing. Josh also played a lot of third base during spring training and he was (in my opinion) the best player at the position. Now this is not to say that Jerry Hairston didn’t deserve to be on the Opening Day roster, he certainly did and has done an outstanding job thus far through the season. But because Juan Uribe is locked into his 3-year/$21 million contract, there was no room on the 25-man roster for Fields. As such, he began the season at Triple-A Albuquerque, where he still is today. Fields is hitting .342 with 8 home runs and 49 RBIs with the Isotopes. He also has an excellent OBP of .407 and a .915 OPS. These are great numbers, my friends; certainly far better than any of the guys that Mattingly is platooning at third base and especially better than the Andruw Jones-like Juan Uribe. Yet when I asked Dodger GM Ned Colletti on Friday night if consideration has been given to promoting Josh Fields to become the Dodgers everyday third baseman, he did a tap dance around the question saying that they had considered it but were waiting to see how things pan out in the next couple of weeks leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

I hate to say this, but the Dodgers may find themselves five games or more behind the Giants in the next couple of weeks if they do not address this issue right now. This is a low-cost deal right here and Colletti needs to pull the trigger on it right now; he needs to DFA Uribe (or have Uribe come down with one of those phantom injuries) and get Fields up here now to at least anchor down the position until Colletti actually signs a permanent (or rental) third baseman before the trade deadline (although I believe that Josh Fields would do as good of a job as any of the third basemen currently available on the trading block – perhaps even better).

Unfortunately, Colletti has always turned a blind eye to his Minor League players (the name A.J. Ellis comes to mind). He is quick to say that the Dodgers lack Minor League position players, yet he has several who are hitting well over .325 (including Josh Fields) that he seemingly hasn’t given much consideration to. In the meantime, he (and the rest of us) continue to watch Uribe sink deeper and deeper into the abyss.

It’s time to dial 9-1-1 and get some help here – and fast; before this season sinks into the abyss right along with Juan Uribe.