Orioles pitcher leading effort to get furry friend into team clubhouse
The Baltimore Orioles (77-47) are looking to adopt a "clubhouse dog" as the newest member of their team.
The American League's best team got the idea during a three-game series sweep on the road against the Junior Circuit's worst team, the Oakland Athletics (34-90), according to Danielle Allentuck of the Baltimore Banner.
Per Allentuck's report, a host of Orioles, including first baseman/outfielder Ryan O'Hearn and relief pitcher Nick Vespi — as well as outfielder Aaron Hicks' toddlers — spent time with the Athletics' clubhouse dog, "Reba," over the weekend. Reba is A’s groundskeeper Clay Wood's dog.
According to the report, O'Hearn and the rest of the team "became infatuated with Reba."
Per Allentuck, the Baltimore players have come to a "simple consensus: They need a dog at Camden Yards."
"They are now on a quest, led by pitcher Cole Irvin, to get a clubhouse dog in Baltimore. They briefly considered other furry creatures, perhaps a guinea pig. But, even though that would be lower maintenance, it doesn’t bring the same endorphins that petting a dog does," Allentuck wrote.
One of the A's AL West rivals (the Seattle Mariners) also have a clubhouse dog after shortstop J.P. Crawford fell for Reba and convinced his team to bring a pup in.
“Anytime we’ve had a dog around the ballpark, there’s been some really good energy,” Irvin said. “There’s a lot of good science behind having dogs in the clubhouse. I don’t know the actual terminology, but if you are in a bad mood and you pet a dog you are able to retake that energy and make you positive.”
According to the report, Irvin needs to get approval from various people to get the wheels in motion and has already brought the idea to general manager Mike Elias (who "didn't deny it") and manager Brandon Hyde, who reportedly "wouldn't mind having a dog around."
Allentuck also wrote that Irvin needs to get the go-ahead from clubhouse manager Fred Tyler.
The report says that the lefty hurler (who spent 2021 and 2022 with Oakland) has volunteered to take the dog out "every hour, and other pitchers could help on the days Irvin starts." Further details include players or other staff taking turns having the dog stay with them at night and adopting a dog older than two, to "avoid having to spend time training it the basics."
As Allentuck wrote, there's still "the complication of travel," with half of the Orioles' games remaining on the road, but Irvin "speculated that the dog could go on local trips, to Philadelphia and New York, and stay with families during longer trips."
She reported that Irvin already knows that he wants the dog to be a rescue, and he "hopes the team will be able to pick it out together from the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter." Furthermore, Irvin already has a named picked out, regardless of if it's a boy or girl: Camden.
“I know dogs make me feel better and they make a lot of these guys feel better,” Irvin said.
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