Hi, my name is Ripken the Bat Dog. Thanks for coming to my page!

Over the past few years, you may have seen me in the Raleigh/Durham North Carolina area serving as the Bat Dog for the Coastal Plain League’s Holly Springs Salamanders, the three time AAA MiLB Champion Durham Bulls, or at an N.C. State University football game fetching kicking tees. Or, maybe you have seen one of my viral videos showing the POV from my retrieves, my interactions with players on the field, or fist bumping NHL players on their way to the ice! While all of those things have helped spread my name, I’m often asked how I got my start. Well, for all of you pawsome people, here is my story…

It all started in Boise, Idaho in 2016. My Dad’s name was Cowboy Kohl and he was an American Labrador Retriever with black fur just like me. What’s even more cool about him is that he was also the kicking tee retriever for the Boise State University football team! My beautiful Mother, Kaya, was also an American Lab. She was yellow and had the kindest eyes. When I was 10 weeks old, I found my new home in Raleigh, North Carolina with my human Mom and Dad who owned a dog training company in Apex, North Carolina. With a toddler and another baby on the way, they realized that a Lab like me would be the best fit for their growing and active family.

My Human Dad played baseball in college and coached at the community college and high school levels after graduating. After opening his dog training business and leaving coaching behind, he was trying to figure out a way to get back into baseball and realized that training me to fetch baseball bats might be the way to do it! It wasn’t as easy as it sounded though. While my Dad started teaching me to fetch bats at just a few months old, and I was GREAT at it, our local high school teams seemed hesitant allowing a dog on their field (maybe they thought I was going to poop on their field?). Either way, it took a couple of years before I finally got my chance to show what I could do.

In the spring of 2019, just shy of my 3rd birthday, my Mom and Dad approached our local college summer league baseball team, the Holly Springs Salamanders, about having me fetch their bats. Not only would it be fun for me an my dad to play some baseball, it was also a good marketing opportunity for Mom and Dad’s dog training business. While having a “Bat Dog” was something new in our area, and we were a little nervous since everyone else had turned us down, the team’s General Manager saw me at my try out and was totally on board! Having that excitement and support was all that I needed and it ended up being opportunity that opened the door for the rest of my life (Thanks Chip!).

The summer of 2019 was the most amazing summer. Not only was I given the opportunity of a lifetime fetching super big sticks with a bunch of new friends, but apparently seeing me on the field was so much fun that people started talking and sharing videos of me all over the place! The videos were being shared so much on social media, that our local TV station decided to come out and do a story on me LIVE during the evening news!

After my feature on the local evening news, everything seemed to take off from there. That summer alone, I was featured on several local TV outlets as well as local newspapers, magazines, before media outlets across the country started reaching out! Everyone seemed to be curious about the cute dog fetching bats out in North Carolina, everyone including the local Tampa Bay Rays AAA affiliate, Durham Bulls!

During the off season between the 2019 and 2020 baseball seasons, my Mom and Dad began speaking with the Durham Bulls about calling me up! Usually, ball players have to go through the full farm system before making it to AAA. However, I must have made a good impression and they decided to call me right up! In March of 2020 I had my very own “Signing Day” at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and was featured again on our local news! I was about to get my shot fetching bats for a Minor League baseball team, but we all know what happened in March of 2020, the world, including baseball, shut down. I was forced to wait 18 very impatient months before I ended up getting my chance.

In August of 2021, after more than a year of training at home and several COVID precautions in place, I FINALLY got to fetch my first bat for the Durham Bulls and it was GLORIOUS! I was fast, I was on point, the team supported me with so many pets, and the crowd went crazy! It was everything I had imagined! Even though I got a late start on the season and was only able to retrieve bats for 6 weeks, it was enough to create some viral videos that received millions of views not just across the country, but across the world!

If viral videos spreading worldwide wasn’t cool enough for a Lab from Raleigh, North Carolina, my performances with the Durham Bulls eventually got the attention of another local team, the North Carolina State University Football team that was about to begin their 2021 season! While a dog fetching a kicking tee was a little risky in front of 60,000 people, my dog dad, Cowboy Kohl who retrieved kicking tees for the Boise State football team for years, proved that it was possible, and if he was able to do it, I would too. With my confidence soaring, I was ready for the challenge.

I debuted with the NC State football team in September of 2021 to the most supportive crowd in the world! The players, coaches, students, and fans were all so kind, loving, and supportive and it was their cheering and support that got me going. Everyone always asks if I’m afraid of all the noise. The loud cheering of 60,000 fans, the cannons, fireworks, jets flying over head and my answer is, “no way”! All of that noise gets me amped! You see, I’m an American Lab. I was bred to hunt. Loud noises are just a part of the game. But, instead of fetching ducks, I fetch bats and kicking tees instead! Those loud noises are my signal to do what I love to do, and that is FETCH, my favorite game of all!

2022 was the year that my career really went to the next level. I got to fetch for the Durham Bulls for the entire season and received even more national media coverage! CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News, and The Kelly Clarkson show all reached out to see me! I even got to appear with the Savannah Bananas down in Savannah and had the time of my life hanging with all of the amazing players and staff and even former Boston Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Paplebon who was also making an appearance! How cool! I started with NC State football again in September and got to do so many cool things there, including, meeting Country Music star and Garner, N.C. native Scotty McCreery! The craziest thing that happened though was when the NHL was visiting prior to their annual Stadium Series game being held at NC State’s Carter Finley stadium and saw me in action. Apparently, they were so impressed, they asked if I could be a part of the Stadium Series game in February! Little did I know what that would all mean.

In February of 2023, what I thought was going to be a quick video to share on social media promoting the NHL’s Stadium Series game here in Raleigh ended up turning into the NHL introducing Raleigh, North Carolina, and ME to the entire WORLD (literally, over 100 countries were watching!) In addition to appearing in a video touring all of the major Raleigh landmarks on my quest to deliver the puck to the game, the NHL then asked ME to perform the ceremonial puck drop! This is an honor bestowed upon only a select few, usually reserved for humans worthy of such recognition. Needles to say I was shocked. What an incredible honor! There I was walking the game puck down the red carpet for the ceremonial puck drop between the Carolina Hurricanes and the Washington Capitals in front of the entire world! I couldn’t believe it! All of the people, the lights, cameras, and the excitement! I felt like Lassie!

So, here I am, just a goofy, lovey, black lab from Raleigh, North Carolina. A family dog that loves to get pet, eat scraps from my little human brother and sister, and greet visitors with a sniff and and a lick whenever they stop by. I don’t think of myself as anything special, but apparently, now, I’m a three sport athlete who has been seen around the world! I just want to say to everyone out there who has watched my videos, taken pictures with me at games (with a much loved head scratch), and has taken the time to send me kind notes on social media, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of your love and support. I truly feel like the luckiest dog in the world and look forward to making you smile for many years to come.