The Arizona Diamondbacks were upset after roughly half of the players on the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated clinching the NL West title on Thursday by jumping into the pool at Chase Field.
Dodgers players celebrate in the D-backs' pool at Chase Field after clinching their first NL West title since 2009.
Diamondbacks president and CEO Derrick Hall said in a statement to the Arizona Republic, "I could call it disrespectful and classless, but they don't have a beautiful pool at their old park and must have really wanted to see what one was like."
The Diamondbacks had asked the Dodgers to keep their players from returning to the field once the division-clinching celebration began. After the Dodgers' 7-6 win, the team high-fived and gathered briefly at second base before it filed into the clubhouse, where champagne and beer flew.
A few minutes later, players began running toward the pool beyond the right-center field wall and scaling it.
The Dodgers misunderstood the intent of the Diamondbacks' request, according to team president Stan Kasten. He thought they were asking Dodgers players not celebrate raucously in front of Diamondbacks fans. By the time the players took the plunge, the stadium was largely empty.
"I've never been around a celebration like this that didn't get excited and a little bit boisterous," Kasten said.
Diamondbacks infielder Willie Bloomquist was the most vocal critic of the Dodgers' actions.
"I think it's tired and disrespectful," Bloomquist said. "It's surprising, because they have a lot of veteran guys on that team that I thought were classier than that."
Nick Punto was the first to cannon-ball into the pool. Yasiel Puig later took a belly-flop, arms outspread.
