Jake the Diamond Dog steals hearts in baseball's minor leagues
If you like minor-league baseball games and very good dogs, the U.S. is the place to go.
Jake the Diamond Dog has been a fixture at minor-league games for years, touring ballparks and bringing joy by delivering game balls, catching Frisbees and serving as "bat dog."
It was Jake's most recent act of kindness that helped make him the latest internet star after sports anchor Zach Groth tweeted a video of the lovable golden retriever bringing umpires bottles of water at a game between the Fort Wayne Tincaps and the South Bend Cubs in Fort Wayne, Ind. on Monday night.
If you can't catch Jake on tour, a New York Yankees affiliate in Trenton, N.J. has not one, but two very good boys on the payroll.
The Thunder boast three generations of canine bat boys dating back to 2002. The team's site claims the trio of pooches are the "first family of bat dogs."
Chase That Golden Thunder has since retired, but his son Home Run Derby and grandson Rookie still serve up the cuteness.
According to the New York Daily News, the Thunder got Jake's trainer to find them a dog of their own, so Chase worked as an understudy of an earlier incarnation of Jake before going pro in the Garden State.
