Who let the dog out? Dodgers minor league team cancels canine bat retrieval program after AA prospect’s knee injury
The World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers were dealt a blow to one of their top prospects who was injured by their double-A affiliates canine bat boy.
The Tulsa Drillers bat boy has been put in the dog house until further notice. The LA Dodgers watched on in disbelief as one of their top prospects was injured while running to the dugout after scoring a run for the defending World Series champions double-A affiliate.
George suffers patellar injury
Kendall George suffered an injury to his patellar tendon early this week in what was a freak accident that involved the team’s canine bat boy. The dog jumped out of the dug out to do his doggy duty of collecting the bat, but nearly collided with George who had to jump out of the way and consequently injured his knee.
It happened in the 2nd inning of the Drillers game against the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. Up 13-6 in the bottom of the second inning, George rounded third base and stepped on home plate to add to the Drillers lead but was cut off by the pooch on his way to the dugout, and as he side stepped the dog came up hobbling and noticeably in pain.
The dog has since been suspended from his role as bat dog as attention turns to the much more serious matter at hand. There has been no diagnosis, but with any sort of knee injury George and the Drillers will proceed with the upmost caution to avoid any further injury.
A minor inconvenience
George was drafted by LA with 36th overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, and was considered the fastest player in the draft class. He played for the Rancho Cucamunga Quakes and the Great Lakes Loons before heading to Tulsa in double A ball.
Meanwhile the bat dog program has been put on hold, at least in Tulsa. There are bat dogs all over the baseball world, especially in the minor leagues of baseball, but this could be a warning shot for teams around the league at every level to evaluate if it’s a good idea to carry on with the bat dog program.
This isn’t an isolated incident. Champ the Retriever is the Durham Bulls bat dog, and he got into a bit of a kerfuffle not too long ago. Champ was wearing a GoPro to document the entire incident during the minor league game, and was actually booed by the crowd until the coach of the team had to come in and spare the dog’s blushes.
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