
After signing with the Yankees early in 1977, he missed the entire season do to injury. The Yankees released him after the season and he did not play baseball professionally again until the St Louis Cardinals signed him in 1981. Uribe was a shortstop, but not a strong defensive one. He made 30 plus errors in his first season in the Cardinals system. MLB manager and GM Whitey Herzog had a vision of a strong defensive SS, though he had Garry Templeton, and considered Uribe as a potential replacement at the MLB level. That though went to the waste side when he traded Templeton to the San Diego Padres for Ozzie Smith. As he worked on his defense, Uribe made his MLB debut in 1984 with the Cardinals. Uribe had a couple more minor league seasons where he had more than 30 errors, but improved enough to get a small look in the majors. After a 4-19 September, he was dealt to the Giants in the deal that brought Jack Clark to the Cardinals. Uribe improved as a defender and was among the leaders in defensive statistics for SS from 1985-1991. For the exception of his 1987 season where he hit .291, Uribe was the Giants equivalent to the Mets Rafael Santana, as he would simply bat 8th and play SS. He signed as a free agent with the Houston Astros where he backed up Andujar Cedeno, who ironically has also since passed away.
Uribe was well known in the Dominican Republic and unsuccessfully ran for mayor in his hometown. According to baseball reference, he had at least 14 children, giving NY Jets defensive back Antonio Cromartie a run for his money.