Do the right thing, but what is it?

The Cardinals banned alcohol in their clubhouse Friday, within hours after police reported St. Louis pitcher Josh Hancock was legally drunk when he drove his car into the back of a tow truck last weekend. Hancock died instantly, and the Cardinals’ reaction was understandable and predictable.

Other teams might decide to ban alcohol too, or the commissioner’s office might decide for them. In an earlier era, such a ban might have made more sense. Today, as teams happily accept millions from companies selling alcohol -- that’s Corona advertising in left field and Budweiser in right field at Angel Stadium -- a ban hints at hypocrisy. Baseball can educate its players and the public about the dangers of drinking and driving.

“I feel bad for the kid, and I feel bad for his family,” White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen said Saturday in Anaheim. “But they try to blame the organization, and I don’t think that’s fair -- to the Cardinals, to the manager, to the guys in the clubhouse.”

It’s not the Cardinals’ fault Hancock was drunk eight hours after their game ended that day. And these are not the old days, when players hung around for an hour or two after the game, talking and drinking. Guillen said he would go along with a beer ban, but he wasn’t sure what problem it would solve.

“Right now, players don’t drink that much in the clubhouse,” he said. “Ten minutes after the game, they’re all gone.”

Where did all the big bats go?

First base is reserved for sluggers, or so we think, but at the end of April no starting first baseman in the American League was hitting .300.

The worst offenders included Richie Sexson at .145, Paul Konerko at .198 and Sean Casey at .192. The National League laggards included Adam LaRoche at .133, Carlos Delgado at .188 and defending MVP Ryan Howard at .221.

Here’s an oddity: One major league first baseman finished April hitting .300 with five or more home runs, but so did three second basemen. Can you name that first baseman and those second basemen? Answers below.

Where did all the Bonds fans go?

The Giants got a frightening look at their future last week, when they drew the smallest crowd in the history of Pacific Bell/SBC/AT&T; Park. With the All-Star game in San Francisco this year, and Barry Bonds chasing the home run record, they bet attendance would not be an issue until next year.

But fans want a winner above all, no matter how beautiful the ballpark, and crowds could fall as sharply in San Francisco in coming years as they have in Seattle, Colorado and Baltimore. The Giants rank last in the NL West in runs scored.

A phenom is on the way, and he makes his major league debut today. He’s Tim Lincecum, who went 4-0 with an earned-run average of 0.29 at triple-A Fresno and struck out 14 in his last start. If he’s for real, the Giants can build around a rotation of Barry Zito, Matt Cain, Noah Lowry and Lincecum, with Zito, who turns 29 in a week, the oldest.

Skip the election, proceed to induction

The Dodgers issued a news release announcing a live chat session with “future Hall of Famer Jeff Kent.” No sure thing, but Kent tops the all-time list for home runs by a second baseman, ahead of Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg, Joe Morgan and Rogers Hornsby. ... A trade that hasn’t helped either side: The Padres sent second baseman Josh Barfield to the Indians for third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff. Barfield hit .162 in April and Kouzmanoff .113, each with one home run.... Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres was the only first baseman to hit .300 with five or more home runs in April. The second basemen that did it: Aaron Hill of the Blue Jays, Kelly Johnson of the Braves and Ian Kinsler of the Rangers.

-- BILL SHAIKIN