By Barbara Gregorich
Jack and Larry leave Canada
for Cleveland, where Larry inhales
the scent of every player,
. twitching his tail and planting
. his paws on each
. of them.
Jack shows his teammates
each new trick Larry
. has learned —
. jumping as high as Jack’s shoulder,
. sitting on Jack’s shoulders,
. balancing on Jack’s head.
On the wooden platform,
waiting for the southbound train,
. the Naps take turns
. playing with Larry.
Jack makes sure
each player knows that Larry
. is not just Jack’s dog,
. he is the team’s dog, too —
. the official mascot
. of the Cleveland Naps.
Jack reminds them that they
are all proud of Larry and of
. themselves, and he hints
. that maybe they should study
. how Larry behaves.
Boarding the train,
Jack flexes his arm
. and stretches his shoulder,
. heading for the aches
. of spring training
. and the hope
. that his arm has healed.
Taken from Barbara’s new book, Jack and Larry: Jack Graney and Larry, the Cleveland Baseball Dog. You can get a copy of this story of the only live mascot ever held by a major league team by visiting Barbara’s website or watching for her at this week’s SABR convention in Minneapolis.