Ripken the Bat Dog | 10 Years of My Home, NC
Clip: Season 10 Episode 4 | 1m 32sVideo has Closed Captions
Ripken the Bat Dog captured our hearts. Now, his brother Champ carries on the legacy.
Heather Burgiss, the host and executive producer of “My Home, NC,” remembers Ripken, the Durham Bulls' beloved bat dog who captured the hearts of sports fans across North Carolina and beyond. Though Ripken is no longer with us, his little brother, Champ, is proudly carrying on the legacy for a new generation of fans. Our 2024 profile of Ripken and his family won a Midsouth Regional Emmy Award.
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My Home, NC is a local public television program presented by PBS NC
Ripken the Bat Dog | 10 Years of My Home, NC
Clip: Season 10 Episode 4 | 1m 32sVideo has Closed Captions
Heather Burgiss, the host and executive producer of “My Home, NC,” remembers Ripken, the Durham Bulls' beloved bat dog who captured the hearts of sports fans across North Carolina and beyond. Though Ripken is no longer with us, his little brother, Champ, is proudly carrying on the legacy for a new generation of fans. Our 2024 profile of Ripken and his family won a Midsouth Regional Emmy Award.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Enjoy a unique look at the food, music, people and culture that make North Carolina our home on the My Home, NC YouTube channel.Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipAt my home, if you watch, you know that we love a good animal story.
Whether it is a Highland cow or a pig or a goat that eats kudzu, our audience has fallen in love with the animals that we have profiled.
But no one seemed more beloved than Ripken the bat dog.
Everybody, give it up for Ripken!
Ripken loves his job and we love watching him do it.
And I think that's really the charm of this story and why it captured so many folks and audiences across our airwaves.
In that story, we of course meet his best friends and handlers, Michael and Melissa, who love him but also know how much he enjoys his job and love training him for it.
This story was of course a fan favorite for us, but it was also a fan favorite at the Emmy Awards and it won the Emmy for Best Editing in 2025.
I want to dedicate this to Ripken, who has passed away, but his legacy remains and I'm so glad that I got the opportunity to make this video.
Unexpectedly, Ripken passed away and fans and his owners, Michael and Melissa, were truly heartbroken.
But his little brother, Champ, was able to come up from the minors to the major league and take on what Ripken had been doing.
And fans really have responded so well to that.
They remember Ripken, but they see the future and that's really been something special for Michael and Melissa to share with everyone.
And if you happen to be at a game and you see that lovely black Labrador Retriever down on the field, know that there's a great story and legacy behind what's going on.
And we're so happy we were able to bring that to you.
Video has Closed Captions
Preview: S10 Ep4 | 30s | Meet two artists who employ traditional techniques to create work that is thoroughly contemporary. (30s)
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My Home, NC is a local public television program presented by PBS NC