Trenton Thunder Bat Dog Chase Dies At Age 13

A talented Trenton bat dog passed away on Monday at age 13. The beloved Chase, the Trenton Thunder bat dog, was an amazing golden retriever who had worked for the Yankee’s Double-A team retrieving bats from the field since 2002.

Chase had attended a birthday and retirement party with the Trenton Thunder just a few days earlier on Friday night, when fans were invited to bring their own dogs to the field for one last public appearance. He had been diagnosed with cancer in February and was also beginning to suffer from arthritis.

His final appearance was a huge success for the team, even though he wasn’t well enough to retrieve one last bat from the field. Yahoo! Sports explained that Chase had already made history as the first bat dog to fetch bats exclusively for a Minor League Baseball team.

According to The New York Daily Post, he leaves behind two sons, both bat dogs — one of them already working for the Trenton Thunder and the other retrieving for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Yankees player Joba Chamberlain explained what he liked about the Trenton bat dog to The Post:

“He was really good at what he does. It was so cool to see all the things he did, not only gets bats and balls, but just interacting with kids. Yes, he was the bat dog but just the smile he put on the kids faces was so special. He was more than the bat dog, he was family.”

Golden retrievers are a good choice for the job of bat dog because they combine a good personality with a desire to fetch game or other objects without biting down.

Want to see Chase in action? Check out this video called “Chase That Golden Thunder:”

And here’s another:

As you can see, the Trenton Thunder lost a serious retriever talent when Chase retired. Fans sent an outpouring of sympathy to the team on hearing about the loss.

The Thunder family appreciates our fans’ outpouring of support today. A sampling of the Tweets we’ve received: pic.twitter.com/G4QZm9yZsJ

— Trenton Thunder (@TrentonThunder) July 9, 2013

It’s obvious that a great many Trenton Thunder fans will deeply miss Chase, the talented Trenton bat dog.

[Trenton thunder bat dog photo credit: paul.hadsall via photopin cc]