By Jon Weisman
It was 40 years ago that I first began paying attention to Major League Baseball, but in those initial years, Ashley Whippet might have been as famous for me as any Dodger. He was as great an athlete as I knew.
He was, basically, a dog who could just about catch any Frisbee thrown anywhere on the planet.
And it was 40 years ago tonight, on August 5, 1974, that he made his debut – unannounced, and to be sure, uninvited – at Dodger Stadium.
Near the climax of a 6-3 victory over the Reds, mere minutes after Steve Yeager hit his first career grand slam to push the Dodgers toward their eighth straight victory and a 7 1/2 game lead in the National League West, Ashley and owner Alex Stein made their way onto the field.
The event made the notes at the end of Jeff Prugh’s Dodger game story for the Times.
“The crowd got impromptu entertainment before the ninth inning when a pet dog scampered into left field and repeatedly made leaping catches – with its teeth – of a blue Frisbee tossed by two youthful male fans,” Prugh wrote. “Four catches – and a near miss – later, the dog and fans were escorted back into the left-field seats.”
Stein was subject to the requisite arrest for trespassing, but subsequently, he and Ashley were invited to perform from the White House to the Super Bowl and inspired disc-catching dogs and their owners around the world.
Ashley Whippet died in 1985, at age 13.
LJ65 (@LJ65)
I was at this game in the left field bleachers. I remember Yeager’s slam as much as the dog. Would love to see the entire times article.