Phillies Affiliate’s Bat Dog Retires After Six Years of Loyal Service

Layla has been the bat dog for the Philadelphia Phillies’ Class A affiliate in Clearwater for the last six years.

Oct 11, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; A view of the Phillies logo painted on the field before game three of the NLDS for the 2023 MLB playoffs between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Minor league teams look for creative ways to engage fans and how the bat gets back to the dugout is no exception.

At the Major League level, every team has a group of bat boys or bat girls that trot to the plate after each at-bat and picks up the bat of the previous hitter.

At Class A Clearwater, a Philadelphia Phillies affiliate, the Threshers use a dog.

Layla has been trotting out to home plate to pick up the bats of Threshers hitters for the last six years. It’s always good fun for fans to watch her do her job.

Well, on Friday, Layla, who is now 13 years old, decided it was time to hang it up. She handled her last bat dog duties and the Threshers captured the moment on video.

Yup, we’re crying 🥹 Layla’s last bat 🩵| Only in @MiLB pic.twitter.com/d8rqwLagCT

— Clearwater Beach Dogs (Christmas Version) (@Threshers) July 20, 2024

While not necessarily in honor of Layla, the Threshers were wearing their Clearwater Beach Dogs uniforms on Friday as part of their promotions that night. Clearwater gave away a Snow Globe, had an online autographed jersey auction, and held a DJ party after the game. Fans were also encouraged to bring an wrapped toy for the team’s toy drive.

Also on Friday fans are allowed to bring their dogs to the game. So Layla likely had some loyal, four-legged fans in the ballpark.

The Threshers gave Layla a bone-shaped baseball cake that read “Happy Retirement Layla” and even presented a highlight reel of some of her best fetches on the stadium’s big screen.

So, how does a dog get a job fetching bats? Well, somewhat by accident.

The Tampa Bay Times talked to Layla’s owner, Andrew Davis, in advance of the game. Davis posted a video in 2018 of Layla fetching him a beer from his fridge. He sent that video to the Threshers. After a while, he heard back.

”They finally reached back out to me,” said Davis. “And they said, ‘That’s a really cool trick. You think your dog could fetch bats?’”

Davis said he trained Layla and in just a few weeks she picked up the habit, started attending games and it was her job until Friday. Davis admitted that the dog is slowing down a bit.

If there is any good news for the Threshers it’s that Layla has a sister — Lucy. And, according to Threshers community engagement and media manager Robert Stretch, she could eventually be her sister’s replacement, joking that Lucy is in the “minor leagues” right now.

The Clearwater Threshers continue their series with the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels in Florida State League action this weekend.