It seemed to take forever but was also over in an instant. The Philadelphia Phillies' 4-2 NLCS Game 7 loss that capped the two-game collapse at home couldn't have been any more excruciating for fans. And the victorious Arizona Diamondbacks made sure to pour salt in the wound.
After clinching the franchise's first National League pennant since their 2001 World Series run, the Diamondbacks celebrated their NLCS Game 7 win with all the vigor of a young team who just took the baseball world by storm.
Arizona rolled into Philadelphia, into Citizens Bank Park no less, down 3-2 in the NLCS and systematically tore apart the World Series aspirations of the Philadelphia Phillies and their fans. The 2023 NL champions ensured their postgame celebration matched the magnitude of the unlikely upset they had pulled off mere hours beforehand.
Diamondbacks plant their flag in Philly
As is custom, the Diamondbacks began their celebration on the field in front of the rapidly emptying seats of The Bank. Center fielder Alek Thomas, who was a catalyst in pulling the Diamondbacks back into the series with his game-tying home run off of Craig Kimbrel in Game 4, planted the team's flag on the Phillies' turf.
Literally.
He planted the Diamondbacks' National League Champions flag right in the middle of Citizens Bank Park. What had once been a fortress for the Phillies in the postseason, with an aura of invincibility, had been joyfully claimed by the young rookie and his plucky teammates.
The National League is @Dbacks country. #CLINCHED pic.twitter.com/MupMGYWzxq
— MLB (@MLB) October 25, 2023
Dreams for Diamondbacks, nightmares for Phillies
As if that wasn't enough, the clubhouse celebration featured a song that didn't just happen to appear on someone's Spotify playlist randomly. Some astute individual made sure the Diamondbacks' celebration included Meek Mill's iconic track "Dreams and Nightmares," per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
The D-Backs were celebrating in the clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park to the iconic Philly Meek Mill song “Dreams and Nightmares” 👀
— The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) October 25, 2023
🎥 @BNightengale pic.twitter.com/OAG3ozzcZe
Using a famous song by a son of Philadelphia was definitely a pointed poke at the vanquished Phillies and the city — as if the Diamondbacks needed to rub in the stinging loss anymore.