Clearwater Threshers new bat dog becomes viral sensation after doing more relieving than retrieving
CLEARWATER, Fla. - For the last few months, Andrew Davis has been training his 10-month-old labrador retriever, Lucy, to be the new bat dog for the Clearwater Threshers after Lucy's older sister, Layla, retired from the job earlier this season.
"Lucy just wants to fetch and be like her sister, so there is an argument that it's been her whole life," Davis said. "But we have been going pretty hard for two months now."
Lucy's debut at the Threshers' game against Dunedin on Friday was anything but according to plan, however.
"I don't think I could have dreamt it in my worst nightmares," Davis said.
Running out of the Threshers dugout in the third inning, Lucy ran over to the bat next to home plate but became a little distracted before making her way into the Dunedin dugout.
"It felt like an eternity of her being in that dugout," Davis remembers thinking.
Despite her dad's best efforts, Lucy continued her tour of the infield before stopping behind the pitcher's mound where she did more relieving than retrieving.
"When she squatted, I definitely went into panic mode," Davis said. "I think the word my fiancée and I used was 'mortified.'"
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Lucy's stop in the infield was definitely not supposed to be part of her debut, according to the team's promotions and game entertaining manager Dominic Repper.
"We kind of had a feeling that something special would happen with her and that it would be a fun event, but I don't think we could have imagined that it would get taken to that level," Repper said.
After Lucy did her business at second base, Repper quickly went to pick up after the team's new bat dog, while Davis got Lucy back over to the Threshers' dugout.
It wasn't long until videos of Lucy's accident in the infield were picked up by media outlets around the world, gaining millions of views online.
"It was tough laying in bed on Friday night," said Davis. "I kept thinking 'It's going to be okay. right?'"
Despite the unscheduled bathroom break, the game went on without a hitch while Lucy and the Threshers became household names on social media.
Thankfully, the reaction online was positive, and the Threshers don't have any plans to bench Lucy.
"A couple million views later, and they said 'She is definitely coming back.' So we're really excited about that," said Davis.
Now, Lucy is ready for a little redemption the next time she runs out of the dugout.
"I don't think there was a better way for her to start her career than with the fireworks that day," said Davis.
Now, Lucy is ready to prove that she is number one in the hearts of baseball fans around the area, even if she went number-two on the field.
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