After clinching NL West Title, Dodgers Move Celebration to Pool
As soon as the Arizona Diamondbacks' Aaron Hill hit a flyball to left field, the LA Dodgers started celebrating, spraying champagne on anyone in sight.
The Diamondbacks management, clearly not amused by their rivals' antics, tried to put a stop to the celebration, asking the Dodgers to not celebrate inside the field. The Dodgers, being the gracious guests that they were, obliged, moving the party to the swimming pool behind the center-field wall.
The pool celebration was, for LA Dodgers players, a fitting end to what many consider one of the greatest mid-season turnarounds in Major League history.
Coming up with only a 30-42 card before the All-Star break, fans began clamoring for a shake-up within the Dodgers organization, with an online petition calling for manager Don Mattingly's ouster. The Dodgers were 9 1/2 games behind the Diamondbacks, who were leading the NL West.
Then something utterly unexpected happened. Cuban defector Yasiel Puig got his major league call-up. The Dodgers went on a 42-8 run that capped a 58-23 second half. All in only three months.
During Thursday's game, the Dodgers had to call upon the same fighting spirit that had carried them through the season. Trailing 6-3 in the sixth inning, back-to-back doubles by Juan Uribe and Scott Van Slyke and A.J. Ellis' RBI single cut the Diamondbacks' lead to 6-5. Hanley Ramirez hit is 20th home run of the season at the top of the seventh, tying the game at 6. Once again, Ellis hit another homer over the left fence, and just like that, the Dodgers were in the lead. Kenley Jansen took care of things in the ninth inning, striking out Aaron Hill.
For at least one Diamondbacks player, the Dodgers' celebration was in bad taste.
Second baseman Willie Bloomquist was quoted by MLB beat reporter Tyler Emerick as calling the celebration "classless and disrespectful".
"I would expect them to act with a little more class than they did. I doubt the New York Yankees would do something like that," Bloomquist added.