Ripken, the Durham Bulls bat dog, makes fetch happen. Now the country knows his charms.

Ripken, a key member of the Durham Bulls, is a team player in the best way possible.

He picks up bats when players are done with them. He doesn’t mind ear scratches while on the job. Sure, he might steal the spotlight from his teammates on occasion, but ... hey, did you see his floppy ears go floppity floppity as he bounded across the field? Those are pawfully cute.

Anyone who has seen Ripken, the Durham Bulls bat dog, in action at Durham Bulls Athletic Park already knows about Ripken’s charms.

Now, the rest of the country knows, thanks to a spot on “CBS Evening News” Monday night.

The segment featured Ripken doing what he does best: fetching bats after players toss them onto the field. The 6-year-old black Labrador is trained by Michael O’Donnell, general manager of Sit Means Sit Dog training in Apex and a former college baseball player.

Ripken was named the Bulls bat dog in 2020 before the pandemic. His popularity has grown this season as he’s been a fixture at Saturday night games, bounding out of his holding area as soon as a bat is ready to be retrieved.

“I actually sometimes have to apologize to the players, because they’ll ground out to second, and all of a sudden, the crowd just goes crazy,” O’Donnell tells “CBS Evening News.”

He also wears a Go-Pro camera, so his thousands of social media fans across Instagram, Tik Tok and Twitter can watch him in action from his sightline.

Ripken got his start on the ball field for the Holly Springs Salamanders baseball team in 2019, when he was 3 years old, according to ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner. In 2021, he was part of Bark in the Park nights and continues to appear at games this season.

Now he takes part in certain promotional events in Durham and has become a good luck charm for the team. If an opposing player forgets to leave his bat on the ground, Ripken patiently waits for him to toss it for him to retrieve, no barks about it.

Chip Allen, assistant general manager, told “CBS Evening News” that management had initial reservations about Ripken leaving slobber and teeth marks on the bat.

“I don’t know how Ripken does it,” Allen said. “No saliva on the bat, no teeth marks.”