Popular Grasshoppers Bat Dog Miss Babe Ruth Dies Of Cancer At Age 12

On Friday, the Gate City lost one of its favorite furry daughters.

Miss Babe Ruth, the Greensboro Grasshoppers dog who fetched bats and delivered baseballs to umpires, died of cancer at age 12.

Babe was celebrated for her more than 600 consecutive games of work, and even received a key to the city. Her custom ball bucket is in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

While she occasionally made guest appearances in recent years, she retired from full-time fetching three years ago.

WFDD's Sean Bueter reported on her last day of work in 2015. He says Babe was beloved by everyone: the fans and the front office.

Interview Highlights

What made this dog special?

Well you know minor league baseball is known for its tradition of stunts and kind of weird entertainment. But fans genuinely loved Miss Babe Ruth and so did the front office. You know it's like she was a member of the family that fans and players alike just loved. And for what it's worth, you know seeing her out on the fields she seemed to love her job too.

Are her replacements going to continue her bat dog tradition?

Well as we heard in the story, Master Yogi Berra and Miss Lou Lou Gehrig took over for Babe. Unfortunately Yogi died last year. But team president Donald Moore tells me that Lou Lou will keep the family tradition alive.

On how fans can donate in her memory:

The team is asking that memorial donations be made to the Babe and Yogi Scholarship Endowment at N.C. State [University], which is actually dedicated to veterinary students. That's a great way to remember these pups.

(Ed.: Part of the audio version of this story originally aired on NPR in September 2015.)