The Arizona Diamondbacks – a team that was outscored by 15 points during the regular season – popped the champagne on the most unlikely of World Series berths in Philadelphia on Tuesday night.
To be more precise, they popped champagne and Budweiser, drenching coaches and players, many of whom were barely of legal drinking age.
There were some down-to-earth moments in the wild locker room scene after their Game 7 win over the Phillies. Manager Torey Lovullo thanked his family after capturing his first pennant, but the Diamondbacks skipper also took the opportunity to slam ESPN’s Chris Russo, who vowed to retire if Philadelphia falls on Tuesday.
“So I already told the Mad Dog,” Lovullo said. ‘He needs to put his money where his mouth is. I think as far as I’m concerned, today was his last day at the network.”
Last laugh aside, the Diamondbacks now enter their second World Series against a red-hot Texas Rangers team that few envisioned would beat the Houston Astros for the American League pennant.
The Arizona Diamondbacks celebrate in the clubhouse after beating the Philadelphia Phillies
Outfielder Corbin Carroll, still just 23, has been a spark for the Diamondbacks all season
Geraldo Perdomo sips champagne after Tuesday’s win over the Phillies
Miguel Castro opted for two beers, of which he appears to have consumed very little
Tell the truth: How many people picked Arizona and Texas to meet in the World Series?
A Rangers-Diamondbacks game had odds of 1,750 to 1 when betting opened last fall.
But in an era where 12 teams make the playoffs, sustained excellence throughout the six-month regular season has become the entry ticket, not the journey, leading to a Longshot Series that begins Friday night at Globe Life Field.
“Once you start the big dance, anything can happen,” Lovullo said before Tuesday night’s 4-2 win in Philadelphia lifted Arizona to its first World Series since 2001. “Throw it all out the window. The teams that participate deserve to participate.’
All the glamor teams are watching at home: the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves stumbled in the Division Series, defending champion Houston was ousted by Texas and the New York Yankees didn’t even make the postseason.
Backup catcher Jose Herrera hoists the National League trophy while being sprayed with beer
Instead, Major League Baseball will have its third all-wild-card meeting, a Grand Canyon vs. Lone Star Finals of second-place teams, played in air-conditioned ballparks under retractable roofs – possibly the first fully indoor Fall Classic.
“I thought it would take a little more time,” Diamondbacks rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll said. “So to be able to do it in this first year makes it all the more special.”
Both previous all-wildcard matchups lasted seven games. The Los Angeles Angels defeated the San Francisco Giants in 2002, and Bruce Bochy’s Giants defeated the Kansas City Royals in 2014 for their third title in five years.
Texas and the Diamondbacks are both two years removed from last place and 100-loss seasons. Arizona is the No. 6 seed and Texas is the No. 5 seed.
“Sometimes one of the last hurdles you have to overcome is the winning feeling and attitude when you’ve been losing for a few seasons,” Bochy said.
Bochy, 68 and in his 26th year as a big league manager, joined the Rangers last October. He is going for his fourth title, which puts Walter Alston and Joe Torre in fourth place, behind Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel (seven each) and Connie Mack (five). All previous managers with three or more are in the Hall of Fame.
‘I don’t think about me. I’m riding on their backs, believe me,” Bochy said. “Honestly, it’s surreal that I’m here. I’ve been at the house for three years and I think I’m going to a World Series here. Yes, that is special. But it’s more about them and finding a way to get a ring for those guys.”
Texas began play as the expansion Washington Senators from 1961-71 and has gone 10,028 games without a title (9,964 regular-season games, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, plus 64 in the postseason). That’s the second-longest drought behind Cleveland, which last won in 1948.
Diamondbacks rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll gets a Budweiser shower after the game
After World Series losses in 2010 and ’11, the Rangers are among six teams without a title, along with Colorado, Milwaukee, San Diego, Seattle and Tampa Bay.
Arizona’s lone title came on Luis Gonzalez’s ninth-inning single off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in Game 7 in 2001.
Texas entered the playoffs with the sixth-highest payroll at $228 million. Arizona ranked 20th with $127 million.
Both teams rallied to earn their berths in the World Series on the road. It marked the first time road teams won Games 6 and 7 in both competitions since the LCS expanded to a best-of-seven format in 1985.
Without Jacob deGrom after a season-ending elbow injury, the Rangers acquired Max Scherzer and Jordan Montgomery to join a rotation that includes Nathan Eovaldi and Andrew Heaney. Adolis García has seven home runs and 20 RBIs in the playoffs and leads an offense also powered by 2020 World Series MVP Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Mitch Garver and Josh Jung.
Manager Torey Lovullo would not comment on it during the post-match celebration
Arizona’s rotation is led by Zac Gallen, Merrill Kelly and Brandon Pfaadt, and the offense is fueled by Carroll, Christian Walker, Ketel Marte, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Gabriel Moreno. Lovullo, 58, is in his seventh season as Diamondbacks manager and is in the playoffs for the first time since his 2017 team was defeated by the Dodgers in the Division Series.
Texas is 8-0 on the road in the postseason, but has home field advantage as it has won 90 games to Arizona’s 84 – which could be the second fewest for a World Series champion in a non- shortened season behind the St. Louis Cardinals ’83 in 2006. The Diamondbacks split two games at Texas in May and swept at home in August, including an 11-inning victory on consecutive doubles by Geraldo Perdomo and Tommy Pham over Will Smith . The Rangers have a 28-25 edge in regular season games.
There are some common ties. Lovullo’s staff includes bench coach Jeff Banister, the Rangers’ manager from 2015 to 2018.
Scherzer was drafted by the Diamondbacks and spent his first two seasons with Arizona in 2008-09 before being dealt to Detroit.