Wednesday night the Arizona Diamondbacks completed a stunning three-game National League Division Series sweep against the Los Angeles Dodgers (ARI 4, LAD 2). The D-backs outscored their NL West rivals 19-6 in the three games and the Dodgers never held a single lead in the series. Arizona was the better team every which way.
Not long after the final out of Game 3 was recorded, the D-backs celebrated the way every team should celebrate a big win at Chase Field: they jumped in the pool. Check it out:
It’s always pool party season in AZ. 😎 pic.twitter.com/iERXHWE3Uq
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) October 12, 2023
"We're going to go in there, we're going to feel good about ourselves. Hopefully there's a couple lifeguards out there to keep an eye on us," D-backs manager Torey Lovullo joked during an MLB Network interview after Game 3. "The last time we were here when we clinched, I was in the pool until 2 o'clock in the morning. If you guys got those little MLB cameras, you got to look out there in the middle of the night. You might see half the team out there."
Prior to the series D-Backs owner Derrick Hall said the Dodgers could celebrate in the pool if they win, and that's a complete reversal for him. Hall called it "classless" when the Dodgers jumped in the pool following the 2013 NLDS, and the D-backs went so far as to have police guard the pool in 2017. Good on Hall for coming around. It's baseball. We don't have to take it so seriously.
As far as I'm concerned, you can celebrate a postseason series win however you want. Jump in the pool at Chase Field, go down the slide at American Family Field, camp out in the trees at Coors Field, whatever you want. You've earned it. If you're upset about the D-backs celebrating in their pool at their own ballpark, all I can say is lighten up.
The D-backs will take on either the Atlanta Braves or Philadelphia Phillies in the Championship Series. The Phillies lead that series 2-1. The NLCS begins Monday, so the D-backs have plenty of time to sleep off their Game 3 bender.
