Miss Babe Ruth Making A Comeback

GREENSBORO, N.C.–The great ones often have trouble saying goodbye.

Michael Jordan retired three different times from the NBA, as it proved hard to stay away from the game. Michael Phelps said his career was over after the 2012 Olympics, only to return to once again dominate the sport in Rio in 2016.

And now Miss Babe Ruth, the Greensboro Grasshoppers’ bat dog for nine years who retired with great fanfare last September, is making a comeback.

When Miss Babe retired, she ended a streak of serving as the bat dog for 649 consecutive home games. Her retirement made national news and the ball bucket she loyally carried out to umpires in her teeth was sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

As a 10-year-old dog, Miss Babe had earned a quieter life. She still serves as the Grasshoppers ambassador. She meets fans near the teams stadium store during games and poses for pictures.

But as Grasshoppers president Donald Moore explained earlier this summer, retirement hasn’t been easy for Miss Babe.

She’s still an important part of the Grasshoppers experience. Her appearances are sponsored by Merck Animal Health, but it’s not really the role she prefers. Even as an 11-year-old now (a rough equivalent of 65 in dog years), Miss Babe would prefer to be on the field, taking buckets of balls to the umpires and fetching the Greensboro players bats.

And now there’s a need.

Miss Lou Lou Gehrig, Miss Babe Ruth’s replacement as the Grasshoppers bat dog, has been placed on the disabled list for the rest of the season after being diagnosed with malabsorption, a condition that makes it difficult for her body to properly absorb the nutrition from her food.

Lou Lou’s condition is treatable with medication, but it will take her a while to get back to full strength. Because of that, for the past few games the Grasshoppers have soldiered on without a bat dog for the first time in nearly a decade.
Miss Lou Lou’s namesake played 2,130 consecutive games for the Yankees. Miss Lou Lou couldn’t make it to 50. Moore could see Lou Lou getting skinnier and skinnier. Changing her diet didn’t work, but eventually a blood test discovered the problem.

“I was devastated when I heard,” Moore said. “I knew something was wrong with Lou Lou. You could see (she was getting skinnier), Moore said. It shows how remarkable (Miss Babe) was able to work that many games in a row.”

And that creates an opportunity for Miss Babe Ruth to step back into the role that she loves.

Master Yogi Berra, Miss Babe’s younger brother, has no designs on the job. It’s not really in his skill set. Yogi runs out between innings to fetch a ball from the outfield and he runs the bases after the game, but hes too active to enjoy the idea of sitting and patiently waiting for a bat to retrieve. Remember, this is a dog who was once ejected by umpires for relieving himself on the field.

“Yogi can’t do it,” Moore said. “If I gave him a bucket to take the umpire, hed drop it right there and take off running,”

Moore and Miss Babe Ruth both want to make sure she’s truly capable of still filling the role. She headed to the ballpark twice this week in the morning to shake off the rust in an empty stadium. She took to the job like the pro that she is, wagging her tail, happy to be back on the field.

Now that those practice sessions have gone well, Miss Babe Ruth is coming out of retirement. She’s expected to be back at her normal perch near the third base dugout Friday night, standing in front of the gate that carries her picture commemorating her retirement.