Ripken (dog)

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Ripken
Ripken the Bat Dog.jpg
Ripken working a Wolfpack football game
Breed Labrador Retriever
SexMale
Born (2016-08-01) August 1, 2016 (age 8)
Boise, Idaho
OccupationRetrieval dog
Employer Sit Means Sit
Years active2019–present
Successor"Champ"
OwnerMichael O'Donnell
Parent(s)"Cowboy Kohl" (father)
Weight70 lb (32 kg)
Named after Cal Ripken Jr.
ripkenthebatdog.com

Ripken, also referred to as "Ripken the Bat Dog" or "Ripken the Tee Dog", is a black Labrador Retriever who works as a retrieval dog for the amateur baseball team Holly Springs Salamanders, the Minor League Baseball team Durham Bulls, and the NC State Wolfpack college football team. In baseball, Ripken retrieves bats thrown after hits, and in football, retrieves the kicking tee after a kickoff.

Contents

Ripken was born on August 1, 2016, and was named after Cal Ripken Jr., the Baseball Hall of Fame player for the Baltimore Orioles. After going to Sit Means Sit dog training school, former baseball coach Michael O'Donnell and his wife Melissa acquired Ripken. Ripken was taught how to retrieve bats starting at ten weeks old. His first debut for a team was for the Holly Springs Salamanders in 2019, where Ripken was kept as he could retrieve the bat without leaving saliva or bite marks. Ripken was later noticed by the Durham Bulls, who recruited him in 2020, and Wolfpack football, who recruited him in 2021. While working, Ripken has a GoPro camera attached to his back, which captures his retrieval from a first-person view. These videos helped Ripken to become popular on social media, which led to him featuring on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2022, and dropping the ceremonial first puck for a Carolina Hurricanes game in 2023. Approaching about ten years of age, another black Labrador named "Champ" is being trained alongside Ripken to replace him in the future.

Early life

Ripken was born on August 1, 2016, in Boise, Idaho. [1] [2] He was named after Cal Ripken Jr., the Baseball Hall of Fame player for the Baltimore Orioles. [1] [3] His father "Cowboy Kohl" served as the kicking tee retriever for the Boise State Broncos football. [1] [3] Ripken was recorded as weighing 70 lb (32 kg) on his minor league baseball profile. [2]

Ripken was acquired at eight weeks old by Michael O'Donnell, the founder and owner of the Sit Means Sit dog training franchise in Apex, North Carolina, from a friend and dog breeder in Boise, Idaho. [3] [4] [5] O'Donnell, a former salesperson and college baseball player at Radford University, acquired the Apex franchise of Sit Means Sit in January 2016. [6] He sought to train a dog to retrieve baseball bats, which would combine his two interests. [7]

At ten weeks old, Ripken was taught how to retrieve small novelty bats and glass bottles, which slowly increased to full sized bats and metal bats as he grew older. [8] [9] [10] Ripken eventually began appearing in O'Donnell's Sit Means Sit commercials as the Apex franchise's "spokesdog". [3] [6]

Career

For the 2019 season, Ripken debuted for the amateur baseball team Holly Springs Salamanders, where he retrieved bats at home games without leaving slobber or bite marks on the bat, [3] [8] [11] or losing focus and roaming around. [12] O'Donnell sought to have Ripken work for the Durham Bulls, a Minor League Baseball team that was closer to professional status; he had a personal attachment to the team and proposed to his wife on the pitcher's mound at one of their games. [5] [9] During the 2019–2020 off-season, Ripken was noticed by the Durham Bulls and asked to join, being announced as part of their team on February 27, 2020, [13] but was prevented from working due to the COVID-19 pandemic largely halting live sports. [14]

Ripken the Tee Dog merchandise at a North Carolina Wolfpack football game Ripken the Tee Dog T-shirt.jpg
Ripken the Tee Dog merchandise at a North Carolina Wolfpack football game

For the 2021 season, Ripken debuted for the Durham Bulls to retrieve thrown bats after hits in the first three to four innings, [14] before meeting fans and giving paw autographs. [4] [5] Fans have on occasion booed players who pick up one of these thrown bats instead of allowing Ripken to do so. [15] Ripken soon became popular with players, [10] [11] but was especially popular with children in increasing their attention spans of the game. [7] When running out to the field to do his job, Ripken has a GoPro camera attached to his back to capture his retrieval from a first person view to later be posted on social media platforms. [16] Ripken also wears a gem-studded necklace of his initial "R" wearing a crown while on the field. [8]

The larger venue helped bring more business to the Apex franchise of Sit Means Sit, and more attention to Ripken. [4] These combined led Ripken to work for NC State Wolfpack college football program starting their 2021 season, who approved after O'Donnell submitted a video from a Durham Bulls game. [3] [4] His job for the Wolfpack the first season was to retrieve the kicking tee at the first kickoff of the first or second half of the game. [3] Ripken was given more duties for the 2022 season, where he became responsible for retrieving all kicking tees for the first half. [3] He went viral on the social media platform TikTok in 2022, with a video of him retrieving a tee at a game between NC State and Texas Tech reaching nearly five million views. [3] On November 10, 2022, Ripken was featured on The Kelly Clarkson Show . [9] [17]

The increased attention from social media led to Ripken being invited by the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League for an on-ice appearance. [4] On February 18, 2023, Ripken dropped the ceremonial first puck at the Hurricanes game against the Washington Capitals, becoming the third sport Ripken had worked. [18] [19] O'Donnell, who had trained Ripken on the puck drop in the weeks leading up, remarked the event was the "pinnacle of his career so far, I think". [20] On February 25, Ripken made an appearance at the Park Expo and Conference Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, with the aim of fetching tees for the state's National Football League team, the Carolina Panthers. [21] On December 28, Ripken worked at the first-ever Pop-Tarts Bowl between NC State and Kansas State in Orlando, Florida. [22] During the 2024 Durham Bulls season, Ripken worked 14 games, or about one in every five home games. [8] For the 2024 Wolfpack season in September, Ripken worked at the Duke's Mayo Classic between NC State and Tennessee. [5]

Ripken has since featured on Topps baseball cards, [7] stuffed plushies by the Durham Bulls, and T-shirts sold by both the Durham Bulls and Wolfpack. [8] The monthly golf magazine Golf Digest remarked in 2021 that bat retrieval dogs playing in Minor League Baseball like Ripken were what was needed in Major League Baseball to make the sport more enjoyable. [16]

Associate dogs

As of the end of the 2022 season, Ripken had a "younger cousin" or "nephew" [8] associate dog named Rivers, named after NC State football player Philip Rivers. [7] Rivers, a younger Labrador retriever, trained alongside Ripken in retrieving baseball bats and football tees with the intention to one day replace Ripken as he aged. [7] Rivers appeared on the sideline at his first Wolfpack football game in November 2022; [9] he had a slight temperament and did not like people in hats, which was often the majority of people in a baseball stadium. [8] Due to Rivers' issues, a decision was made in early 2023 [23] by O'Donnell to acquire another descendent of Cowboy Kohl from Boise, Idaho, named Champ. [8] Champ began working in rotation with Ripken at Holly Springs Salamanders games in the following 2024 season, [24] with the intention to move up to working at Bulls and later Wolfpack games. [8] [23] Champ did not have a mentioned temperament, but did get anxiety in larger stadiums, a condition Ripken did not have according to O'Donnell. [8] This anxiety was being treated each game. [8] The end goal for Champ was to have him work professional league games for baseball, football, or golf. [24]

List of occupations

List of official jobs held by Ripken
TeamYear startYear endSportJobRef(s).
NC State Wolfpack football 2021Ongoing College football Official kicking tee retriever [1]
Durham Bulls 2020Ongoing Minor league baseball Official bat dog [1]
Holly Springs Salamanders 2019Ongoing Amateur baseball Official bat dog [1]
Sit Means Sit (Apex)2016OngoingDog training Spokesdog [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Ripken the Bat Dog". Sit Means Sit Dog Training. July 18, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Ripken the Bat Dog". Durham Bulls . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Burkhart, Matthew (October 4, 2022). "NC State tee-fetching canine becomes viral sensation". Technician . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Lobenhofer, Kyle (April 23, 2024). "Ripken, the dog who fetched the hearts of Durham Bulls fans". Mediahub . Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Sherman, Lucille (September 13, 2024). "Ripken the Bat Dog's big weekend". Axios . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  6. 1 2 Pitkin, Ryan (February 29, 2024). "Ripken the Bat Dog prepares for another season with Durham Bulls" . Cardinal & Pine . Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Armstrong, Rick (November 24, 2022). "Ripken the bat dog, football tee retriever finds fame". WRAL . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Krest, Shawn (June 15, 2024). "Bat dog an inside-the-bark homer". North State Journal . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 4 George, Catherine (November 17, 2022). "Ripken the bat dog and wide retriever". RALtoday. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  10. 1 2 Michael O'Donnell (May 17, 2023). WRAL Out & About - Ripken the Bat Dog at the Durham Bulls April 2022. WRAL (YouTube). Ripken The Bat Dog. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  11. 1 2 Van Cleave, Kris (August 22, 2022). "Dog collects discarded baseball bats for minor league team". CBS News . Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  12. ↑ Page, Sydney (August 30, 2024). "Bat dog has disastrous minor league baseball debut (but is still a good girl)". The Washington Post . Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  13. ↑ Cain, Brooke (March 2, 2020). "Who's a good boy? The newest member of the Durham Bulls baseball team, that's who". The News & Observer . Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  14. 1 2 Powell, Candace (June 1, 2022). "Bat Dog Shows Off Good Boy Skills In The Middle Of A Baseball Game". The Dodo . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  15. ↑ Cole, Margherita (August 3, 2022). "Very Good Dog Is Trained To Collect Discarded Baseball Bats". My Modern Met. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  16. 1 2 Bentley, Coleman (September 17, 2021). "The Durham Bulls strapping a GoPro to their bat dog is exactly the innovation baseball needs". Golf Digest . Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  17. ↑ "Durham Bulls, NC State viral sensation Ripken to be featured on Kelly Clarkson Show". WRAL . November 10, 2022. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  18. ↑ Detwiler, Christopher (February 18, 2023). "Ripken The Bat Dog shows off hockey skills ahead of Stadium Series". National Hockey League . Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  19. ↑ Rafferty, Chloe (February 18, 2023). "Local celebrity 'Ripken the Bat Dog' to lead NHL Stadium Series' ceremonial puck drop at Carter-Finley Stadium". WNCN . Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  20. ↑ Rupinta, Amber (February 18, 2023). "Ripken The Bat Dog will drop ceremonial puck for Canes Stadium Series Game". WTVD . Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  21. ↑ Tompkins, Meilin (February 24, 2023). "Ripken the Bat Dog is in Charlotte. Here's how you can meet him". WCNC-TV . Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  22. ↑ "What to know about the Pop-Tarts Bowl, this year's tastiest college football game". Fox Sports . December 27, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2024.
  23. 1 2 "Meet Champ -- the newest bat dog in training". WTVD . September 25, 2023. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  24. 1 2 Rupinta, Amber (June 7, 2024). "Champ, The Bat Dog, follows in his famous big brothers paw-steps on the field". WTVD . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
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