The baseball stadium is being illuminated by a new star who is neither a pitcher nor a home run batter. The Durham Bulls Minor League baseball team’s enthusiastic black lab, Ripken the Bat Dog, collects broken bats from the infield. While it’s entertaining to watch him perform his duties from the sidelines, they also mounted a Go-Pro on the dog’s vest so that spectators could view Ripken’s running path.
Usually, the films start with Ripken standing behind the dugout, patiently waiting for the hitter to complete his turn at the plate. When the player releases his bat, Ripken sprints through the grass and dirt to get it in his jaws before whipping around to return it to where he started. The lab is obviously passionate about his work, which is simply playing fetch in front of spectators.
Although baseball players and umpires appear to appreciate his presence on the field, every now and then someone will start to pick up the bats for themselves, forgetting that Ripken is the designated bat dog. Ripken waits patiently for them to notice him when this occurs. And when they eventually release the bat, he joyfully takes it and goes about his work. Ripken is demonstrating that he is the ideal bat dog even if there aren’t any in the major leagues (yet).
A crucial player for the Durham Bulls Minor League baseball club is Ripken the Bat Dog.
A Go-Pro has been attached to his harness so that you can watch him gleefully collect the discarded bats.
He clearly loves his job and brings smiles to people’s faces.
Even if sometimes people mistakenly pick up the bats, they quickly put them down so Ripken can complete his task.
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h/t: [Golf Digest, Pet Helpful]
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