Rookie...The Bat Dog
The words "Fetch" and "Retrieve" took on a new meaning while attending the August 2 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders-Lehigh Valley IronPigs triple A baseball game at Scranton.
At the bottom of the first inning we noticed this beautiful golden retriever sitting outside the RailRiders dugout in foul territory and looming in my head was the thought that I hope he doesn't get hit with a foul ball.
Little did I know that this pooch, with the name "Rookie" is the official bat dog for the Trenton Thunder, double A Yankees minor league team and that he has the noble profession of bat dog.
Rookie comes up to the RailRiders games when Trenton is on the road and he is in his fifth season of doing what he does best as the team's bat dog....that means Rookie, instead of the traditional bat boy, jogs up to retrieve a hitter's tossed baseball bat after each at-bat and returns it to the dugout.
Rookie is owned by the team but his primary caregiver is Trenton's VP, Eric Lipsman.
Like his grandfather Chase and his late father Derby, Rookie is carrying on a 15-year family legacy of canine bat retrieval.
The fans get a kick out of him and Rookie's presence is also uplifting for the players too.
Playing in Minor League Baseball is a notoriously tough job, with long, tedious road trips and the great distance from home weighing on the players, but Rookie is a friendly reminder of the players' own families and pets back home.
Rookie certainly looks like a natural with his elite efficiency and sprint speed when it's time to retrieve a bat.
A great attraction for the game of baseball.
Rookie the bat dog doing his job.
No comments:
Post a Comment