Perhaps you read the headline above and assumed it was simply a figure of speech, a common and pretty hackneyed writerly flourish. Please understand that you could not be more wrong: The Trenton Thunder unveiled the newest member of its long and prestigious bat dog tradition on Thursday afternoon, and he is so cute that all I can really do is show him to you and let you see for yourself.

He has eight equally adorable brothers and sisters, but only one could be chosen to walk in Rookie's footsteps -- he'll be sent to bat dog school, where he'll train for a year before hopefully taking the field in 2021.

More importantly, though: He doesn't have a name yet. The Thunder plan to open it up to the public, so go make your voice heard.

(My vote's for Doggy McDogface.)