Guess they forgot to include a clause covering impromptu pool parties in the unwritten rules of baseball.
Members of the Diamondbacks organization took exception Thursday night when several Dodgers celebrated an NL West-clinching, 7-6 victory by returning to the field after the game and climbing into the pool beyond the right-field fence at Chase Field.
“It’s surprising because they have a lot of veteran guys on that team that I thought were classier than that,” Arizona infielder Willie Bloomquist said, before delivering the ultimate burn. “I doubt the New York Yankees would do something like that.”
A cannon-balling Carl Crawford and belly-flopping Yasiel Puig — at times criticized this season, even among the Dodgers, ironically, for his rookie exuberance — participated in the splashy show of excitement. The champagne goggles distributed in the clubhouse may have come in handy.
D’backs president Derrick Hall told MLB.com in an email: “I could call it disrespectful and classless, but they don’t have a beautiful pool at their old ballpark and probably wanted to see what one was like.”
Not all of the D’backs considered the Dodgers horsing around in their yard an affront to better baseball etiquette.
Pitcher Brandon McCarthy wrote on Twitter: “Celebrating is fun. I don’t care how and where you do it. Only thing to care about is what we need to do to celebrate in our pool next year.”
UPDATE: None other than (the official Twitter account of) Sen. John McCain — otherwise engaged in diplomacy with Vladimir Putin and trying to resolve the international crisis in Syria — weighed in with a rip of the Dodgers’ antics.