Diamondbacks Hit Pool: Arizona Swims At Chase Field After Clinching 2011 NL West (VIDEO)

Turf Then Surf: Diamondbacks Celebrate Title With Swim

It's a common sight during big league clubhouse celebrations for ballplayers to be wearing swim goggles in an attempt to protect their eyes from the stinging alcohol that is being splashed around as if the floor is the only thirsty guest at the party. Yet, in all those celebrations no team has ever needed its goggles quite like the 2011 Arizona Diamondbacks.

At midweek, Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano appeared set for a Cousteau-style underwater expedition as champagne flew in the Bronx. On Friday, Brewers pitcher Yovanni Gollardi was rocking a set of ski googles as the Brewers celebrated their N.L. Central crown. It's likely that both kept their peepers pristine as bubbly gave way to beer over the course of the raucous parties. But neither of them had to worry about the sting of chlorine.

Shortly after topping their amazing worst-to-first regular season with a 3-1 win over the defending champion San Francisco Giants on Friday night, the Diamondbacks bolted en masse for the swimming pool just beyond the right-field wall at Chase Field.

Under first-year manager Kirk Gibson, the D-Backs overcame a woeful start to the season to roar past the Giants in the N.L. West standings. Fittingly, they came from behind in the division-clinching win. An impressive number of the 42,606 fans in attendance at the game were still celebrating at Chase Field when a large contingent of players emerged from the dugout -- goggles strapped on -- and ran across the field to the pool. The fans who stuck around lifted their own revelry to an even greater decibel level as the D-Backs hopped the fence and jumped into the pool.

The posted "No Diving" sign was ignored.

Gibson even cut short a postgame interview to leave the clubhouse and dash across the field to join his players in the pool.

One of the broadcasters summed up the scene, "I'm going to hazard a guess that this has never happened before at a Major League Baseball celebration."

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