Yankees: One of our own has passed; Derby

Derby, the second generation bat dog for the Double-A affiliate of the Yankees, passed away on Saturday. Baseball is a lesser place because of it.

I watched those dogs from afar. I plan to go to New Jersey this summer and visit my daughter and son in law. Just miles away from Arm & Hammer Park, home of the Trenton Thunder — the Yankees Double-A affiliate. Then, of course, I’ll continue to Yankee Stadium.

Things have changed with the passing of Derby.

I watched the video of the history of the famous Trenton Thunder bat dogs, beginning with Chase, passing the baton, or in this case bat, to his son Derby.

After some intense training that didn’t work out too well, but made for funny viewing of his Triple-A promotion and subsequent Scranton debut, Rookie was evidently a good boy in Trenton, following in dad’s and grandfather’s paw-steps. But we can only be called up when we’re ready.

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I used to live only a few miles from Arm & Hammer Park, which at the time was known as Mercer County Waterfront Park. We used to go quite frequently even though at the time it was the Double-A affiliate of the Red Sox.

Minor league baseball is FUN! It really is. And even though we weren’t interested in what the Sox had on the field, we loved going to game. Our young daughters had a blast. It was a great time!

As fun as it was then, I can’t imagine what it would be like to witness those beautiful dogs coming out onto the field and flawlessly (well, maybe not for Rookie in SWB) retrieving bats, interacting with players and umps, who they shuttled cold drinks to.

Derby also served as a public service representative for the Trenton Thunder organization. He was a good boy in every sense of the word.

Next: Yankees underrated prospects headed into 2018

Rest easy, boy. Know that you are in our hearts always. Even though I didn’t get to see you in person, I will still see you in my heart.