Noted as one of the most spiritually damaged teams in MLB history, the Los Angeles Dodgers furthered their reputation by (allegedly, but probably) pissing in the Diamondbacks' pool after clinching the NL West (ugh). Gross monsters, all of them.

Tony Jackson at Dodger Scribe, who initially supported the teams' celebratory dip in the pool, recanted thusly:

The reason I am doing an about-face here is that it has come to my attention that one of the Dodgers players who jumped in the pool — and I will do him the favor of leaving his name out of this for now — openly and loudly bragged after leaving the pool about having urinated in it.

To me, that takes this to a whole different place. It takes it from a giddy, spontaneous celebration to an ugly, disgusting display of utter classlessness.

There also are indications that MULTIPLE Dodgers players urinated into the pool, but I can’t tell you that with any certainty. It’s just what I’ve heard. What I can tell you is that it was only a handful of guys — maybe eight, give or take — who ran out and jumped into the pool. It would be presumptuous to assume that every one of them had the same thoughts running through his brain. Maybe there were some who really were just celebrating, nothing more. Maybe there were others who meant it as a direct slap in the face to the Diamondbacks.

Disrespectful, crude, and rude. That sums up the Dodgers. No one should be too surprised. (Fine, sure, we all pee in the pool now and then. It feels good! But still.)

Also.

Speaking of postseason, the A's nabbed the AL West title on Sunday, which, if all goes according to plan, could result in a California World Series. Fingers (and swords) crossed.

[Dodger Scribe]
[Deadspin]
[LAist]

(By e.Chang)

The Week That Was:
Won 1, lost 2 against the Pirates.
Won 1, lost 2 against the Braves.

35-33 for the season; 3rd place in the NL West.

The Week That Will Be:
Mon: at home against the Padres. (Autism Awareness Night)
Tue: at home against the Padres. (Healthcare Night; Native-American Heritage Night)
Wed: at home against the Padres. (America's Cup poster giveaway)
Thu: at home against the Marlins. (Stitch n' Pitch Night)
Fri: at home against the Marlins. (Garlic Fest)
Sat: at home against the Marlins. (Ryan Vogleson bobblehead giveaway)
Sun: at home against the Marlins. (World Champions beach towel giveaway)

The NL West: baseball's boxing ring. Last week, the 1st place Diamondbacks and the last place Dodgers went at it. Pitchers hit batters, players hit each other, the dugouts were emptied, and a good, old-fashioned baseball brawl was had.

And the Dodgers won the game.

The Bums ended up taking two of three from the Diamondbacks. The Snakes then lost three of three against the Padres, who, in the previous week, split a 4-game series against the Rockies. The NL West is Edward Norton in his boss' office in Fight Club, and the Giants couldn't be happier.

Well, they COULD be happier. I mean, no one should be happy being in 3rd place with a 35-33 record, but if that's you, you're glad you're in the NL West because that means you're only 1.5 games out of 1st place. The NL West is most competitive division in baseball--not the best division, mind you, just the most bunched up. Two games is all that separates the 1st place Diamondbacks and the 4th place Padres. Even the last place Bums aren't totally out of the picture--they're only 7.5 games back. By beating up on each other, the NL West has ensured that no one's looking pretty and no one will run away with this thing.

And it continues this week when the Padres come to town for three games. The Padres have won their past six games, and eight of their last 10, and got above .500 for the first time this season with their win yesterday against the Diamondbacks. They're hot and the Giants are not. Thank God Barry Zito will be taking the mound tonight. I never thought I'd ever type that last sentence, but that's the way it's been with Zito this season. Four wins, one loss at home; zero wins, four losses on the road. 1.94 ERA at home; 11.28 on the road.

We have Zito, Cain, and Bumgarner for the Padres series and the Marlins are a little league team. So the plan for the week: fend off the Padres, feast on some marlin, and meet back here in 1st place.

By Erick Pressman

This weekend found our local baseball heroes defending their world championship in Arizona and if the temperatures at Coachella were in the high 90s to lower 100s, one could only imagine that it was at least that hot, if not hotter deep in the Valley of the Sun, home to Chase Field and one of our more annoying National League West rivals, the Diamondbacks. I’d like to take the time to explain to some of our “newer” Giants fans that games against teams such as the Diamondbacks, Rockies, Padres, and Dodgers are extra important because they our in our division and the outcome of these games directly effect our placement in the division a little more than when we play out of division teams. Now that we’ve given our new-found fans a little background, lets look at the highlights of the weekend:

On Friday night, hard luck ace Matt Cain lead the black and orange to a 5-2 victory over the Dbacks with a little help from Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval’s third home run of the season, as well as a media darling Brian Wilson’s third save of the season. The Giants kept their streak alive into Saturday’s game, defeating Arizona 5-3 behind an outstanding performance from Gulliermo Mota, who entered the game after the second inning due to scheduled starter and notorious bust of a pitcher Barry Zito sprained his foot and found himself fifteen day disabled list. While nobody likes it when someone is hurt, we would be lying if there wasn’t a giant sigh of relief exhaled by Giants fans nationwide knowing that even those he’s a stand up guy (and rocking a bitchin’ mustache these days), Barry Zito won’t be blowing games for us for at least two weeks. Buster Posey went yard for the second time this season, and B Weezy picked up another save, bringing his total to four for the season.

Sadly, the lucky streaked ended Sunday when the Giants dropped the game to the Diamondbacks 6-5 in extra innings. Apparently the bullpen couldn’t keep the Giants in the game despite home runs from Aubrey Huff, Pablo Sandoval, and Buster Posey, a feat which is rather impressive seeing as how the Giants are a team not really known for their offensive prowess.

The Giants leave Arizona with a record of 8-6, putting them second in the division to the super smoking Colorado Rockies, who are holding down first in the National League West today. The Giants are sending up two-time Cy Young Award winner and fan favorite Tim Lineceum to the mound tonight, followed by probable starts from Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez for the remainder. You couldn’t ask for a better three pitchers to hopefully cool the jets of the scorching hot Rockies, but you need runs to win games, so what the Giants are going to need to bring to these games are the red hot bats of Buster Posey, Aubrey Huff, and Pablo Sandoval to support what will most likely be dominant pitching perfomances from three of the league’s greatest starters. Tune in to either CSN Bay Area for the televised games or go super old school and bust out an AM radio tuned to KNBR 680 to see if Los Gigantes have what it takes to knock the Rockies off the mile high horse they rode in on.

After yesterday's Giants 4-1 victory over Arizona, rookie D-Backs were forced to don their finest swim gear while en route to the airport. Why? Why not. But if you must know:

The Giants find themselves one victory from a division title, but they're really in it for the humiliation. Just look at the state of the D-backs after getting swept. Brandon Allen(notes) (center, wearing headphones), Barry Enright(notes) (left, with hands on hips) and the other Deebax rookies were made to put on their best Michael Phelps for the trip to the airport. Imagine what the Padres might be made to do this weekend by the masochistic Giant juggernaut.

Is this a regular thing in baseball? Forcing rookies to reveal their body in public settings? Having them touch each other ever so gently in front of a camera? Die-hard baseball fans, feel free to chime in.

Another view below.

The Giants opened the week in San Diego with a pair of losses, being held to two runs in either game, and returned home to split yet another two-game series with the Diamondbacks, finally winning their first game of the week on Thursday. Over the weekend, they dropped two-of-three to the Brewers, who had lost seven straight before coming to San Francisco.

So, that crappy week is over. Here's hoping the Giants will perform better this week. They host a three-games series against San Diego starting tonight (and don't forget, you crazy co-eds, tonight is college night), continuing tomorrow night (with special prices for hotel industry employees and free Jason Schmidt posters to the first 20,000 fans), and concluding Wednesday with a day game. (And by the way, if you've never been to a weekday day game at Willie Mays Field, they're great; you really oughtta skip out of work this Wednsesday and watch some baseball.) They have Thursday off and then they play a three-game set over the weekend against the Pennsylvania Rockies, er, Pittsburgh Pirates. Let's hope the trip to the Keystone state works out like the one to Colorado did. Or better. Go Giants.