The Dodger Pool Fiasco

By Ryan P. Morrison On September 20, 2013 · 7 Comments

It’s a good thing revenge is a dish best served cold, because the Diamondbacks will have to put their plans for retribution on ice for at least six months.

In winning the final game of this week’s four game series at Chase Field yesterday, the Dodgers clinched the NL West, punching their ticket to the postseason and officially eliminating the D-backs from contention. Although the D-backs managed to push the Dodgers’ celebration to getaway day by winning two of the four games, they still had to endure the champagne triumph from only a few dozen feet away.

But that’s only part of the story. After “evading” stadium security, a group of some 20 Dodgers players scaled the wall in right-center to throw themselves an impromptu pool party, cannonballing their way into Arizona infamy.

Check out this string of pictures from Dodgers photographer Jon Soo Hoo. Plenty of pool memories to pick from, but I think my favorite is the one in which it looks like Yasiel Puig is trying to entice the Arizona lifeguards to join in on the fun.

I’ll not vulture the Willie Bloomquist and Derrick Hall quotes from this Tyler Emerick piece; but make sure to check it out. Although I completely agree with Brandon McCarthy’s take — that the important thing is to focus on playing better next year — it does seem that at least some D-backs players found the pool business disrespectful.

Why? Well there are two reasons, I think.

One is that the pool isn’t just a pool. It’s hosted a Diamondbacks celebration in 2011; but it’s also the signature feature of the ballpark. When graphic artist pootpoot captured Chase Field in his series of minimalist baseball stadium pictures, he reduced Chase to the pool. The only comparisons I can think of might be an opposing team taking turns on the Miller Park slide, or playing an exuberant hide-and-go-seek in the Wrigley Field ivy. The pool doesn’t have the same history as the ivy or even the slide, but Arizona is a young franchise; the fact that it’s relatively new does not mean that the pool is not central to Chase Field’s identity, and by extension, symbolic to the players (and fans) who call Chase their home.

The second reason is context. Sure, there’s the rumble between the teams on June 11 at Dodger Stadium — but Ian Kennedy and Eric Hinske are long gone, and that’s not really it. There’s the fact that Arizona was the team displaced when LA went worst-to-first in less than three months — but as grating as it might be, any D-backs fan would concede that the Dodgers’ laurels are deserved for that accomplishment.

For me, it was the five beanballs in two days that made the pool fiasco feel like adding insult to injury. In delaying the Dodgers’ celebration for one day on Wednesday, the D-backs got hit three times: Matt Davidson in the first (Fife), Miguel Montero in the third (Fife), and Aaron Hill in the fourth (Marmol). The D-backs did not retaliate. After hitting two home runs against the Dodgers, Paul Goldschmidt was then hit in the first inning on Thursday, before Martin Prado took one on the shoulder in the fourth (both Nolasco).

After Prado got hit, home plate umpire Jim Joyce warned both teams — if the D-backs had tried to even up the HBP ledger at that point, both pitcher and manager would have been ejected. On the D-backs broadcast, Steve Berthiaume noted that Thursday was the last meeting of the season for the two teams, and so there would not be an opportunity for retribution. Bob Brenly immediately noted that “there’s spring training next year,” and games next season, and games after that.

The best revenge is playing well. But after a long offseason of thinking on the events of yesterday, I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t a little trouble in Australia next year.

7 Responses to The Dodger Pool Fiasco

Ryan P. Morrison says:

September 20, 2013 at 1:02 pm

Comment for @TheAttack5:

In judging whether the pool thing is offensive, I think it’s not ridiculous to consider the 5 unanswered HBPS that all occurred less than 24 hours before the pool thing.

In judging whether the 5 HBPs are not as big a deal as the Kennedy HBP: I’d note that there’s no reason to think that Kennedy was throwing on purpose in June anymore than a team might throw at guys when their playoff odds were 99.9% and their magic number was 2 with almost two weeks left to play. Why would a team be more inclined to throw at guys in the first situation than in the second?

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Ryan "Wreck" says:

September 20, 2013 at 9:01 pm

There is celebrating your win and then there is celebrating your opponents loss. With this whole pool fiasco it feels like the Dodgers did the latter.

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- Tim says:
  
  September 23, 2013 at 2:05 pm
  
  How can you possibly be so insecure about your team as to think that way? Those Dodgers in the pool didn’t even remember or care what team they just beat. They were celebrating the season-long climb from worst-to-first that they’d finally cemented. Jeez. This pool thing is a joke. I had no idea the Arizona Diamondbacks and their fan base was such a bunch of thin-skinned whiners. “Please don’t celebrate at our stadium.” I know that wasn’t specific to the pool, but what a silly, petty request. Almost like telling fans of the opposing team with high-visibility and expensive seats that they can’t wear the visiting teams colors. I guess that goes back to the theme of the day again. Insecurity.
  
  Reply
  - Ryan P. Morrison says:
    
    September 24, 2013 at 11:00 am
    
    Tim, there’s at least a slight chance that some of the Dodgers who took part in the celebration meant it as a slap in the face to the D-backs, right? If so, can you blame D-backs fans for at least wondering about that?
    
    I think you’re confused on one point: the D-backs did not ask the Dodgers not to celebrate, or even not to celebrate on the field. They just asked the Dodgers not to return to the field after they’d taken their celebration to the clubhouse. Does that change your mind about anything? I think it should at least put some doubt in your mind.
    
    Finally… maybe you should read this. Again, I don’t think I’d describe myself as anything more than mildly perturbed. Wouldn’t you be, if you were a D-backs fan and read this? http://dodgerscribe.com/breaking-a-promise-and-correcting-an-error/
    
    Reply
  - Will says:
    
    September 24, 2013 at 12:29 pm
    
    The Dodgers peed in the pool and claimed it was “their house”. You don’t think they were thinking about the Dbacks? Get a clue. The Dodgers, and LA fans in general, showed their lack of class and the reason why LA is a city for slum.
    
    Reply
  - James Green says:
    
    September 25, 2013 at 5:58 pm
    
    Screw you Tim. There, how’s that for thin-skinned? Anything the doyers do….anytime, is offensive. Please tell your gang-bangin’ fans to stay away from arizona, and not to follow d’back (or giants) fans to the parking lot anymore.WORST of luck in the playoff to the doyer organization and their fans. Thi skinned…yeah…
    
    Reply
Cece Terry says:

September 25, 2013 at 2:40 pm

It was respectfully requested that your team confine its ‘celebrating’ to your visitors’ clubhouse after leaving the field – not only did you disrespectfully, & maliciously, ignore the request, you sullied Chase Field, the pool, the Dbacks initial, & spontaneous, pool celebration, the Dback fan experience &, ultimately, yourselves (as individuals), your team (collectively), your manager (individually) & coaches (together, and with the manager), your new ownership (as a whole) &, finally, your fans (both here & in L.A.), not to mention the city itself.
How proud your mothers must be of you – grown men, acting out…like spoiled bullies on a playground. It appears that some of the things money wasn’t able to buy your team included class, courtesy, humility or stewardship of one of America’s greatest past-times. There’s not a one of you that deserves any honor(s) this year – you didn’t ‘rise to the occasion’…you brought the occasion down to your level. Shame on each & every single one of you & your organization as a whole. I’m hopeful MLB responds to your actions.
After the fact, I doubt any player for the Dbacks, would really consider the pool incident benign – just the fact that the ‘less – than – artful Dodgers’ evaded
(‘dodged’ – how appropriate) security at Chase Field means they dang well knew what they were doing wasn’t right…no moral codes, either.

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