How Snakes Alive became a meme, then a Diamondbacks rallying cry for an unlikely World Series run

SNAKES ALIVE.

It’s certain you’ve seen that phrase everywhere as the Arizona Diamondbacks have made a shocking run out of the National League playoffs and into the 2023 World Series, as unlikely of a run as we’ve seen out of any MLB team.

The rallying cry you see above has a similar story. You might have seen it printed on pieces of paper, on t-shirts and held up by fans everywhere. And it’s unthinkable that two words printed on a 8.5 x 11 piece of paper have become a meme and now a slogan for this squad.

Let’s start from the beginning: Back during the NLCS in Game 3, someone held up a sign printed on a fairly generic font at Chase Field that said SNAKES ALIVE:

my dude, it's OK to just not bring a sign if you're strapped for time pic.twitter.com/D03r5LMkcx

— Grant Brisbee (@GrantBrisbee) October 19, 2023

Lots and lots of people loved it:

I have to admit I am obsessed with the snakes alive sign. pic.twitter.com/87MW9zlZgA

— ash. (@MsduMaurier) October 25, 2023

This man didn’t know he’d change the course of history. He should never have to pay for a drink in Arizona again. https://t.co/SdYszdvDEc

— Neha Modi (@nehamodi) October 25, 2023

Could’ve at least used WordArt pic.twitter.com/tGtaFzdxIL

— The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) October 19, 2023

The Diamondbacks took over from there:

So slithery and sneaky because we’re snakes. 🐍 pic.twitter.com/6iGgjrrVc6

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) October 20, 2023

Inevitably, there are t-shirts:

"Never been more alive. Never been more alive than we are today." – @ItsPaulSewald, in his "SNAKES ALIVE" shirt 🤣🐍#EmbraceTheChaos | @Dbacks pic.twitter.com/SUFnaMQaiN

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) October 26, 2023

SNAKES ALIVEhttps://t.co/EhzG8nE6AR pic.twitter.com/rHjxqC9P9R

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 20, 2023

Now, The Athletic tracked the sign maker down:

[Jeff] Guzzardo just wanted to bring an appropriate sign to Game 3 of the National League Championship Series, with the Diamondbacks facing a 2-0 deficit against a Phillies team that seemed destined for the pennant. But, Guzzardo said, he dislikes obnoxiously large posters at sporting events and the distraction they might cause for others. His plain, standard-sized artwork took no more than a few minutes to create. …

Guzzardo will be back at the ballpark on Tuesday for Game 4 of the World Series. He has a seat, again, near the home dugout. And he plans to bring the sign back for another go-round — though this time he’ll surely have company. As with all great artists, he has already inspired plenty of imitators.

“It’s kind of fun,” Guzzardo said. “My intention was not to gain any notoriety or anything. I guess maybe I was trying to boost morale or get some momentum going.”

So … we’ll maybe see him with that sign one more time, and perhaps it’ll bring this team more luck.