Dog days of summer come to ball park

Miracle game checked out from canine's perspective

By DIXIE DORSEY
Special to The News-Press

With a press pass around my collar, an empty stomach — hey, I'm a Beagle, so I'm always hungry — and, unfortunately, a leash, I bounded out of the car and into the Lee County Sports Complex, ready for the "Dog Days of Summer" promotion.

When my dad told me we were going for a ride in the car, my heart started beating faster than a 99-mile-per-hour fastball.

When I realized we were going to watch the Fort Myers Miracle take on the Tampa Yankees on a "Thursty" Thursday night, with an announced crowd of 134 of my fellow canine friends — 1,482 people came, too — I hoped the night would include another type of dog.

A hot dog.

But first, I toured the baseball stadium, including the clubhouse, where my new favorite player, starting pitcher Adam Harben, greeted me by petting me on the head.

"Hey, get that dog out of here!"

Uh-oh.

Apparently, Riccardo Ingram, the manager of the Miracle, doesn't like dogs.

"I can't stand dogs!" Ingram barked.

The good news: the players loved me.

I ignored Ingram hollering in the background, as half a dozen Miracle players swarmed over me and began to pet me.

Yes!

Third baseman Matt Moses, first baseman Brock Peterson, catcher Kyle Geiger and relief pitcher Josh Gray — a proud owner of three Labrador retrievers — all petted me.

But then Ingram kicked me out of the clubhouse, and in my mind, I could just hear the line from the Snoopy cartoon: "No Dogs Allowed!"

Normally, dogs aren't allowed at the stadium, but the Miracle make an exception one day a year.

There were dozens of different kinds of dogs. I sat and watched the game, a 6-1 victory by the Miracle, with my family, Bonnie and Emily, and with a couple of my dog friends, Niki the wonder-mutt and Mookie, a 70-pound boxer.

Miracle outfielder Trent Oeltjen hit an RBI double for a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning. I missed a leadoff home run by Matt Tolbert in the first inning because I was too busy sniffing other dogs and getting sniffed by them.

Plus, I had the good fortune to lick up a cup of peanut butter-flavored ice cream.

Oh, and a cake, which also tasted like peanut butter, made by Bark Avenue in Fort Myers.

I ate everything as fast as I could. There were too many other dogs looking for scraps.

Like Scrappy the Jack Russell, Chi-Chi the Chihuahua and Dali, a Greco Dane mix. Chi-chi couldn't control her bladder inside the stadium. How rude.

I also met a trio of pugs, Bosco, Lola and Rico.

"They like to get out and meet a bunch of other dogs," I heard their owner, Don Schmidt of Fort Myers, tell my dad. "They really do. They're having a ball."

I saw this big, giant standard poodle named Bailey. And then there was 100-pound, white, furry Polo, a 4-year-old great Pyrenees who looked like a polar bear.

Even one of the players, starting pitcher Scott Tyler, had one of his two dogs, an Italian greyhound named Champ, at the game.

I felt sorry for his other dog who couldn't make it, a Pomeranian named T.O., after Philadelphia Eagles receiver Terrell Owens.

My favorite part of the game wasn't the two-run home run slugged by Miracle first baseman Brock Peterson in the sixth inning.

It, without a doubt, would have to be the hot dog.

When I saw my dad unwrap that foil wrapper, I sat back and gulped it down as fast as I could. Then I washed it down with a couple of sips of somebody's beer.

By the end of the night, I was exhausted, sprawling out in Section 111, Row 13.

With my tongue hanging out of my mouth and panting, I heard my mom say: "Dixie, do you want to go home?"

Don't get me wrong, I loved that baseball game.

But I was ready for that ride — with my head hanging outside the window — back home.