Have you seen the pictures?
Moments after the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first team to clinch a playoff berth, Yasiel Puig, Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, Matt Kemp, Michael Young and other Dodgers plunged into the pool at Chase One Ballpark, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks:
Sure they were excited, I get that. And some of the players are very young and inexperienced in the ways of winning. But there were enough veteran ballplayers there to know better. Somebody should have said, “Stop, this is a really bad idea.”
Have you ever seen Derek Jeter pull a stunt like that? Or Albert Pujols? They know a lot about winning and the first rule is to celebrate like you’ve done it before. Act like it’s no big deal. Give a few high fives and back slaps and then head back to the weight room to gear up for the playoffs. Keep your eye on the prize of winning the World Series. Then and only then, can you you pop the champagne and carry on like crazies, but make sure you do it in the locker room, not your next door neighbor’s pool.
Don’t ever rub it in the face of the home team, especially in their pool. The Dodgers disrespected the Diamondbacks and the game of baseball and showed no class by hijacking Arizona’s pool. No individual, no team, no celebration should ever be bigger than the game itself.
Winning a division doesn’t make you a champion. The Dodgers will find that out when the St. Louis Cardinals win the pennant. And if the Redbirds clinch in Dodger Stadium, you can bet they won’t be racing go-karts down Chavez Ravine to mock the home team. With 11 World Series championships and 18 National League pennants, the Cardinals know how to win and do it with dignity.
