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The Greensboro Grasshoppers threw a retirement party for their adorable bat dog

Minor League team throws retirement party for bat dog

By Gemma Kaneko

Miss Babe Ruth, the bat dog for the Greensboro Grasshoppers (a Marlins Class A affiliate), has been in the baseball business a long, long time. She started ferrying game balls to umpires and retrieving bats when she was just 10 months old. When she retires at the end of this season, she will have appeared in 649 consecutive games from 2006-15.

Nine seasons might seem short for a baseball career, but in dog years, she's been a member of the team for almost half a century. Only Vin Scully's got her beat when it comes to longevity in the game. But she wins when it comes to promotional items with her face on them:

The Grasshoppers threw her a retirement party before Saturday's game against the Lakewood Blueclaws. In addition to handing out the amazing coasters above, they also made sure she got to the field in style:

Fans and players alike said their goodbyes:

And, like particularly lucky retired baseball figures, Miss Babe Ruth will be headed to the Hall of Fame. Well, at least her ball bucket will be:

The bucket she carried … baseballs in will be donated to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum by Donald Moore, Babe's owner and the Hoppers president and general manager.

"This bucket is the same bucket she's used since the day she started as a 9-month-old pup," Moore said. "This is her last year, and I thought, 'You know there's some history in that thing. It would be kind of cool if Cooperstown would want it.' So I wrote 'em a letter."

babe2

But don't worry -- the tradition of bat dogs at Grasshoppers home games will continue. You might even see Miss Babe Ruth in the stands someday, kicking back (perhaps with a well-earned hot dog) watching her brother, Master Yogi Berra, or her niece, Miss Lou Lou Gehrig, take over her place on the field. 

h/t: Deadspin