Dodgers clinch, Diamondbacks cry

This week, the Dodgers clinched the National League West Division Title and will at least make it to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

In a year that saw the Dodgers fall 9.5 games back in the division, winning the division has to be some relief off the organization and players. They were expected to be at this level the whole season but injuries and lack of chemistry hurt them early-on. Eventually, they became the team that Dodger fans envisioned at the season’s start.

Before the division-clinching win in Arizona, the Diamondbacks asked the Dodgers not to celebrate on their field in the case the Dodgers clinched while in Arizona. It turns out that even when the Dodgers listened to this request, they still managed to anger the Diamondbacks. While the Dodgers didn’t celebrate on the field, they did decide to go celebrate in the swimming pool at Chase Field.

The uproar has me scratching my head. Why is this at all controversial to people? Many Arizona players and management called the celebration “classless,” but I don’t get why.

Even former Vice Presidential candidate, John McCain took out his anger about the situation on twitter by tweeting the following:

No-class act by a bunch of overpaid, immature, arrogant, spoiled brats! “The #Dodgers are idiots” http://t.co/KfZZliBFBV

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) September 20, 2013

 

If the Diamondbacks didn’t want the Dodgers to celebrate on their home field, then they should have beaten them. They had a three run lead in the game and blew it. Even better, if they didn’t want Yasiel Puig swan-diving into the pool, they shouldn’t have given up their 9.5 game lead in the division. It’s as simple as that.

The Dodgers did nothing wrong by celebrating in the pool at Chase Field. It’s a pool, it’s meant to be swam in. Almost all the fans were gone, so there was no security issue either. If such controversy is being made about an away team celebrating on an opponent’s field then why is it acceptable for any team to celebrate after they win a title on the road? If the D-Backs had lost the World Series at Chase Field, would they have asked the AL team to no celebrate on the field? Of course not.

I know that a division title isn’t the same as a championship but after what the Dodgers went through this season, this celebration was deserved especially against the Diamondbacks. Coming from an organization that earlier in the season, demanded a group of Dodger fans sitting behind home plate to either change their clothes to Arizona merchandise or leave the game, calling another team classless is like the pot calling the kettle black.