Monday July 3 9:47 AM ET
Web Footed Dogs Join Baseball Team
dailynews.yahoo.com
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - They're already being called the dogs of summer.
The San Francisco Giants baseball team, which this year unveiled a sparkling new Pacific Bell Park stadium directly on San Francisco Bay, is getting
ready to induct a squad of canine retrievers to dive after wayward balls.
Five web-footed Portuguese water dogs -- officially known as the Baseball Aquatic Retrieval Korps (BARK) -- will plunge
from their own special boat into the icy waters of the bay to fetch any homeruns that are slammed out of the park.
``America's favorite pastime meets man's best friend,'' Don Novello, who came up with the BARK idea, told Friday's San
Francisco Chronicle.
The water dogs, which resemble poodles, have webbed paws and use their tails as rudders in the water, are known as
exceptional swimmers and were once used by Portuguese fishermen to herd schools of fish, carry messages between boats and snare lost lines.
Novello, who once played Father Guido Sarducci on ``Saturday Night Live'', will introduce the dogs Saturday at a pregame ceremony. They are
expected to perform at all Saturday day games as well as games on the Fourth of July and Labor Day, chasing fly balls from batting practice and the
handful of homeruns that are hit into the bay, team officials said. |
