She acts like she’s the boss

Actress Alyssa Milano, a self-professed Dodgers fanatic, wrote an open letter to Manager Grady Little last week on her blog at MLBlogs.com.

Dear Mr. Little,

Hi! I know you’re real busy with the pennant race and all so I won’t take up too much of your time. I beg of you, in the future please refrain from batting anyone with a batting average under the Mendoza Line in the CLEANUP spot. I’m all for [Olmedo] Saenz getting the start at first to get some more at-bats and give [James] Loney a break, but you may want to consider batting him appropriately for a .185 hitter. Just a suggestion. Call me crazy.

Also, while I have your attention I’ve got another crazy suggestion: You may want to check out [Andre] Ethier’s numbers against lefties (AVG. -- .329, OBP -- .372, SLG -- .466) and start him accordingly. With the way he’s been hitting, there is no reason for him not to get the start against lefties unless he is hurt. Crazy right?

Thanks,

Alyssa Milano

Dodger fanatic

Peace,

Love,

AND BASEBALL

Impressions: Nice use of sarcasm, and she’s no baseball neophyte. But she might cause a little trouble in the clubhouse by ripping the manager so specifically, considering she has dated Brad Penny and Russell Martin.

One other thing: In light of her dating activity, maybe “Touch ‘em all” isn’t the best title for her blog.

Trivia time

USC has won more NCAA football games than any other team in the Pacific 10 Conference, with 743 victories.

Which Pac-10 team is second?

Doing OK

Jason Thomas, once in competition with Carson Palmer to be USC’s quarterback, is a probation officer at the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center in Nevada.

His life and Palmer’s have taken divergent paths, but Thomas, known to some as “Mr. T,” told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he enjoys trying to guide troubled youngsters.

“We can go either way depending on the circumstance,” said Thomas, 27. “I sure tiptoed the line, maybe I walked over the line, but I always came back. Some of these kids need to see that the mistakes you make aren’t permanent.”

His charges are often hardened, but they are still young.

“They can come in here for a robbery, a rape and assault, but when they get in here, they want to watch ‘SpongeBob,’ ” Thomas said. “They’re still kids.”

No love match

These quotes might not score any points for tennis player Marat Safin on EHarmony, but he’s always good for a laugh, even when he isn’t playing up to his considerable potential.

“In the worst scenario, the worst scenario, which would be the normal scenario of my life, I would be a coach in some club in Russia, in Moscow, that nobody would even think about me. I would have probably a few kids and wife, drive every morning at 9 in the morning to give lessons,” he said.

“That’s for sure not for me yet. I prefer to play tennis and be alone than to be working in a tennis club from 9 to 9 and having two kids to feed and a wife that is never happy. Sounds familiar or not?

“Sounds familiar for some of us, huh?”

Trivia answer

Washington, with 646.

And finally

The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off Wednesday carrying a miniature version of UC Irvine’s Peter the Anteater, thanks to astronaut Tracy Caldwell, who once worked at Irvine as a postdoctoral fellow.

Reaction: Who would have thought there would be an Anteater in space before the Anteaters made the men’s NCAA basketball tournament?

To be fair, Irvine participated in the Division II tournament years ago, but the Anteaters have never made it to the Big Dance.

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robyn.norwood@latimes.com