DURHAM, N.C. — The Durham Bulls Athletic Park is open again for another season of Bulls baseball.

What You Need To Know

The Durham Bulls have returned to the DBAP for another season of minor league baseball

Ripken the Bat Dog will retrieve bats for Bulls Saturday games

The dog's owner, Michael O'Donnell, is a former college baseball player and the owner of multiple Sit Means Sit franchises in North Carolina

It's minor league baseball, and that means wacky things happen sometimes.

For this organization, that means employing a dog to help keep the game moving.

Ripken the Bat Dog will work Saturday games for the Bulls this year.

He’ll retrieve the bats for the Bulls.

Ripken's owner, Michael O’Donnell, is a former college baseball player and says this was his way of staying in the game. He is also the owner of multiple Sit Means Sit franchises in North Carolina.

“Finding any way I could possible to get back in to the game of baseball after college is what led me to Ripken, and Ripken the Bat Dog and getting back on the field and partnering with the Durham Bulls and other baseball teams as well," O'Donnell said.

Besides the Bulls, Ripken works for the Holly Springs Salamanders, plus the N.C. State baseball and football teams.

If the name Ripken rings a bell, O'Donnell says he did indeed name his dog after the legendary Baltimore Orioles player Cal Ripken Jr.