These days, it’s not entirely uncommon for baseball teams to have dogs in and around the clubhouse (because, why not?).
For example, do you remember the University of North Carolina baseball team’s therapy dog, Home-Run Remington?
He has his very own Instagram page:
The UNC Baseball Team’s Therapy Dog, “Home-Run-Remington,” Has An Instagram Page https://t.co/TVnt945eIw pic.twitter.com/GROYjQ85ZF
— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) May 31, 2017
Some dogs help out around the dugout and in the locker room like HR Remington there, while others, like Carlos Correa’s dog, have dreams of being on the field one day:
https://twitter.com/flippingbats/status/847157854146646016
But while the Astros are still dreaming on his potential, the Yankees already have a dog working his way up the Minor League ladder. His name is Rookie, and he’s a very good boy.
And until recently, Rookie was the official bat-fetcher of the Double-A Trenton Thunder. But, if you can believe it (of course you can, you know how good of a boy he is, don’t you?), Rookie was just promoted to their Triple-A team (no, seriously). Unfortunately, I just don’t see a call-up to the Majors happening any time soon. You see, Rookie still has some stuff to work on in the Minors.
For example, watch as he runs right past the bat in his Triple-A debut, shirking his duties as bat-fetcher, to instead take a ball right out of the pitcher’s hand:
Rookie the Bat Dog doesn’t grab the bat, still does something awesome. pic.twitter.com/UIJt236O2C
— Conor Foley (@RailRidersTT) July 19, 2017
When asked later why he decided to skip the bat and his responsibilities, Rookie replied, “BALL BALL BALL BALL there’s a BALL when BALL I need to have BALL.”
To be fair, that’s an airtight response.
The Thunder front offices will close today at 2:15pm as we go to watch Rookie and Derby at @swbrailriders!
Office re-opens at 9a tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/ZOv1RiRjij
— Trenton Thunder (@TrentonThunder) July 18, 2017
He’s still a good boy.