MLB Bullets Has Jumped Into The Deep End

I say that if you don't want other teams to celebrate by jumping into your stadium pool, don't put a {expletive deleted} pool in your {expletive deleted} stadium.

Gertrude Stein last time, Bertolt Brecht today.

• The Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the NL West title with a 7-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Diamondbacks had asked the Dodgers not to celebrate their title on the field after the game, but they said nothing about celebrating in the pool beyond the right field wall at Chase Field, so that's what they did. This upset utility player Willie Bloomquist, who called it "classless and disrespectful." D-Backs pitcher Brandon McCarthy, on the other hand, didn't think it was a big deal.
• Predictably, the media in Arizona and Los Angeles reacted differently to this incident. The Arizona Republic, in an editorial, also called the Dodgers "classless."
• On the other hand, Steve Dilbeck in the Los Angeles Times asked "Is that pool some kind of hallowed Diamondbacks ground--or water?" and says the Dodgers have earned their right to celebrate. He also made the same comment I made about the pool. (Independently, I assure you. I wrote that on Twitter before I saw the LA Times article.)
• Dodgers CEO Stan Kasten and Diamondbacks CEO Derrick Hall also disagree on the appropriateness of the Dodgers celebration.
• Tim Brown thinks that it was an apt metaphor for a team that overcame adversity and made a big splash the second half of the season.
• Jay Jaffe takes a look back at the Dodgers rollercoaster of a season.
• Matt Snyder thinks the Dodgers are going to be a dangerous team in the playoffs.
• Joe Posnanski has one of his typical elegant and analytic pieces about a gut feeling: How Adrian Gonzalez isn't the same player he fell in love with in San Diego. I'd add "me too," but I'm afraid that would look a little inelegant next to Posnanski's work.
• The Dodgers reportedly had a deal with Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero, but now that he's signed with Scott Boras, the Dodgers have reportedly pulled their $32 million offer.
• Teams are looking at Cuban slugger Jose Abreu, but not everyone is convinced he's going to be an impact major league ballplayer. Jerry Crasnick has a good long look talking to multiple scouts about Abreu.
• They haven't quite clinched the AL East yet, but the Red Sox 3-1 win over the Orioles clinched a postseason berth. John Lackey took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in this game.
• Sam Miller takes a look at all 37 consecutive outs that Koji Uehara got recently.
• Also on Wednesday, the Red Sox offered $1 tickets to any fan with a beard. It's nice we're finally getting recognized (although in truth, I grow a beard and shave one off at least twice a year) but for those unable to grow one (including, but not limited to, women, children and wusses), fake beards and greasepaint on the chin were acceptable. Probably a magic marker too if you're crazy.
• Atlanta's magic number is down to two, but the "slumping" Braves really miss Jason Heyward. Some slump. They're 5-5 over their last 10. I wish the Cubs could have that kind of a "slump." Still, that is a letdown compared to how the Braves were playing with Heyward in the lineup.
• Luckily for the Barves, Jason Heyward took batting practice Wednesday and is expected to be back in the lineup next week.
• Andrew Marchand wonders if Joe Girardi wants to stay with the Yankees after Girardi was very noncommittal in an interview. I've got to tell you, when Ken Rosenthal wrote this last week, I thought it was a steaming pile of I-need-a-story-by-nine-o'clock. (And I have a lot of respect for Rosenthal, who I think is the best in the business right now.) But with Joe being noncommittal in the Bronx and Theo Epstein being noncommittal on the North Side, maybe there is some smoke there.
• I'm not sure even Ron Santo ever did what John Sterling did on this Alex Rodriguez home run. Err, double. Err, fly out.
• The Yankees and Mariano Rivera are going to make some money on his retirement.
• Phillies interim manager Ryne Sandberg is expected to have the word "interim" removed from his job title before the end of the season.
• Could Larry Bowa be teaming up with Ryne Sandberg once again? The Phillies have had internal discussions about bringing Bowa on as a bench coach under Sandberg next season.
• Bowa, for his part, says he's a huge believer in Sandberg's ability to manage and says he'd listen if the Phillies called. I love the part of that article where Bowa says "I don't know if anyone knows this, but he started out 1 for 32." Larry, everyone knows that. At least every Cubs fan.
• Craig Calcaterra approves of the idea of Bowa being Sandberg's "Bad Cop."
• Michael Bauman says that winning has become a tradition in Tampa Bay, despite many, many disadvantages.
• Ken Rosenthal, on the other hand, asks if the Rays can't draw fans to see this team in September, how will they ever draw any fans? On Thursday, the Brewers drew 21,625 for a day game against the Cubs. The Rays drew 13,550 for a night game against Texas. What is wrong here? (Other than all the things we know are wrong about Tropicana Field.)
• The sewers overflowed at O.co Coliseum again.
• Athletics owner Lew Wolff called the poor crowds down the stretch in Oakland "depressing." Ray Ratto, on the other hand, thinks Wolff always expects other people to solve his problems.
• A.J. Burnett took a swipe at the empty seats in Pittsburgh, which are not nearly as numerous as those in Oakland or Tampa Bay.
• Gerrit Cole is starting to get the strikeouts everyone thought he'd get when he was drafted number one in 2011.
• Former Mariners owner (and Nintendo president) Hiroshi Yamauchi has died at the age of 85.
• Jon Paul Morosi said that while Yamauchi had a reputation of being a disinterested owner (he never traveled to the US to see the Mariners play in person), he was anything but that. In fact, he still wielded a lot of control over the Mariners through his influence with the current owners, a trust under the control of Nintendo of America. His death leaves the Mariners with an uncertain future.
• NPB Commissioner Ryozo Kato has resigned over the "livelier baseball" scandal in Japan.
• Your daily "Mike Trout is awesome" article.
• Ken Rosenthal (who seriously doesn't sleep this time of year) wonders who is going to take the fall in Texas if the Rangers fail to make the playoffs.
• Stephen Strasburg's "forearm tightness" is probably the last nail in the coffin on the disappointing season in DC.
• The Resistible Rise of Ubaldo Jimenez.
• Joe Lemire takes an insightful look at the changeup, which he calls "the most important pitch in baseball."
• Tracy Ringolsby is impressed with the job of Cardinals manager Mike Matheny is doing.
• And finally, Prince Fielder helps himself to some fan's nachos after a foul ball.