It does seem like I'm doing a lot of counseling on this site, lately - it's sort of weird. But there does seem to be such negativity surrounding the team, I guess I keep feeling a counterpoint is necessary.

Perhaps you're preparing yourself for the potential disappointment of losing the division. Or perhaps you're already looking ahead to the first round of the playoffs and preparing to be swept, again. You're so hungry for Dodger success that the possibility that it will be plucked away makes you scared. Or angry.

I hear all that. I feel all that.

My only advice is to keep an open mind and try to enjoy the journey as well. Because as you know, it's not every year that the Dodgers are in first place when the air cools and the leaves begin to change color.

* * *

Someone is going to pin this article from the North County Times on the proverbial bulletin board. And someone else is going to talk about this firing up the Dodgers.

And I'll continue to be amazed that professional athletes need bulletin board quotes to inspire them.

"Not to take anything away from them, but I definitely don't feel like they're the best team in the division," Padres pitcher Brian Lawrence said. "But that's why you play the game - the best team doesn't always win. If that was the case, they'd give the trophy to the Yankees every year and call the season."

"They've been getting lucky," teammate David Wells said of the Dodgers, adding that Jeff Weaver is their only "legitimate" starter. "They're the comeback kids. You have to give credit to their offense. ... We know we have a better team than the Dodgers. They've just been winning at the right time. That's why they're where they're at. It's frustrating to all of us that we are where we are."

But the thing is, the best team does win. Every time. In the end, in a game of rules, the winning team is the best team. It'll be true if the Giants or Padres rally to win a title, and it'll even be true if the Dodgers hang on.